2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Fostering Student Learning and Innovation in Robotic Navigation: Field Trials and Virtual Simulations

Presented at Instrumentation in Engineering Projects

Autonomous and remote-controlled navigation trials with mobile robots equipped with various sensors including LiDAR and stereo depth cameras will be highlighted in this paper. Realistic simulation models of the devices have also been developed and employed for virtual trials, utilizing Gazebo and ROS-based open-source platforms running on the Ubuntu/Linux operating system. The project efforts reported here were largely conducted during the summer of 2024 by undergraduate engineering students at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and a visiting student from the University of Maryland College Park (UMD) who came to UMES for a 10-week internship at the robotics laboratory supported by Maryland Space Grant’s Summer Exchange Internship Program (SEIP). Standardized software libraries and packages integral to the Robot Operating System (ROS) facilitated the implementation efforts. The students overcame significant challenges to familiarize themselves with appropriate ROS1 and ROS2 environments and assimilated them with compatible versions of the Ubuntu( Linux) operating system to advance the delineated goals. The ROS2-compatible micro-ROS was also utilized for one of the educational mobile robotic platforms. Integration of artificial intelligence and sensor feedback was emphasized. Collaborative field trials analogous to autonomous and remote-controlled robotic navigation in lunar environments were also demonstrated on the UMES campus during the summer by visiting UMD students with the support of UMES students.

The three-year UMES-UMD collaborative project titled “DREAM: Developing Robotic Explorations Using Agrobots and Moonbots” funded by the NASA-MSTAR program provides the framework and the funding for the educational and research goals of the endeavors that are in broad alignment with NASA’s Artemis mission. Kolb’s experiential learning paradigm continues to provide a framework for student learning and engagement as well as continuous refinement and advancement of project objectives. Current efforts in the fall of 2024 will extend and build on the summer efforts.

Authors

Dr. Abhijit Nagchaudhuri University of Maryland Eastern Shore [biography]

Dr. Abhijit Nagchaudhuri is currently a tenured professor in the Department of Engineering and Aviation Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore(UMES). Dr. Nagchaudhuri received his baccalaureate degree from Jadavpur University (India) with honors in mechanical engineering in 1983. Thereafter, he worked in a multinational industry for a little over three years before joining Tulane University as a graduate student in the fall of 1987. He received a master’s degree from Tulane University in 1989 and a doctoral degree from Duke University in 1992. He is a member of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and, has also been involved with the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). He is actively involved in teaching and research in the fields of (i) robotics and mechatronics, (ii) remote sensing and precision agriculture, and,(iii) biofuels and renewable energy. He has been involved with several extramurally funded projects as PI or Co-PI to support outreach, education, and research activities from various state, federal, and private agencies; served in leadership roles in professional societies; and has received several awards and certificates from his home institution as well as professional societies. He has published more than 90 refereed articles in journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. He has been involved with several divisions of ASEE including the Minorities in Engineering Division (MIND), and served as the division chair of the Energy Conversion, Conservation, and Nuclear Engineering Division (ECCNED) in 2016. He is a member of the technical committee of IEEE/ASME Mechatronics and Embedded Systems Application(MESA) and has served as the division chair in 2022. He serves as a program committee member of the Maryland Space Grant Consortium.
Lance Ward University of Maryland Eastern Shore [biography]

Lance is an undergraduate student researcher at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore currently working on a bachelor's degree in engineering with a concentration in computer engineering.
Danny Pham University of Maryland Eastern Shore [biography]

Danny Pham is a sophomore at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, majoring in Computer Engineering. His work focuses on robotics applications using MicroROS, including line following, gesture recognition, and more. He utilizes OpenCV and Mediapipe for computer vision and AI-driven interactions.
Anubhav Dixit University of Maryland College Park
Christopher Snyder University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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