2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A new interdisciplinary undergraduate research course is developed and taught at the University [name withheld]. The objective of the project is to custom design, build and fly a modular Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) (aka drone) for specialized industry applications. In its first iterations, the team is designing a UAS for a Civil engineering company for surveying mission. In the next 2 years, the team will upgrade the design for bridge inspection mission. After that, the mission will include manhole probing, thermal/infrared imaging, and air data collection.
The first phase of the project is supported by United Consulting (local Civil Engineering company). They provide funding for the equipment. Design and fabrication of the drone is done by the research team. The in-house facilities include 3D printers, CAD software, and other fabrication facilities. These and other required facilities are available in the AERO (Aerospace Education and Research Organization) lab at the host institution. There are currently 7 undergraduate students actively working on the project under the guidance of one faculty member. This is an interdisciplinary project. Currently, students working on the project come from Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechatronics and Computer Engineering programs. The research team is divided into two main groups. The avionics group includes students from Mechatronics and Computer Engineering. The systems group includes students from Mechanical and Civil engineering. The avionics group is responsible for selection, design, and integration of all the electronic components including but not limited to flight computer, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, batteries, motors, cameras etc. The systems group is responsible for creating the Computer Aided Design (CAD) models of the UAS. This group performs weight, power, and stress calculations. They also fabricate the aircraft parts and integrate all the mechanical components. The goal is to continue to recruit students from multiple disciplines. Each student brings a unique perspective.
United Consulting provides expert consulting engineering and geotechnical services for the built environment. Key requirements include the ability of the drone to maintain a minimum flight endurance of 30 minutes for the heaviest (manhole probing) mission, have a flight range of one 1 mile, and the ability to support modular equipment.
Students enrolled in the research course (RES4000) have the option to use the credits towards technical electives for their degree program. This course is open to all students from all disciplines, engineering, and non-engineering, including undergraduate freshmen all the way to senior students. They are taught the research methods and processes and apply those techniques on a real-world project. Senior students also serve as mentors to junior students. In the full paper, learning objectives and assessment will be discussed. Student perspectives and value of this research-based course will be highlighted. Details of the Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) will be added. Also, student tasks and schedule will be included. Additionally, results obtained from this research will be discussed.