Final Project

This page details information about the AE 4610 Final Project

Project Overview

The purpose of this project is to introduce you to experimental controller design by allowing you to design and execute your own experiment. You will be given the unique opportunity to design all aspects of the experiment beginning-to-end. This process includes but is not limited to defining the experimental goals, fleshing out how you will achieve those experimental goals, laying out your success criteria, creating the experimental procedure, executing your experiment to acquire and process data, and presenting your findings. This project will span roughly the entire semester and will allow you the unique opportunity to design, build, implement, and test your own controllers based on what you have learned during your coursework in AE 3531 and AE 4610.

This project will include 4 mandatory technical components:

  1. System dynamics modeling

  2. Simulation

  3. Controller design and implementation

  4. Physical hardware implementation

As such, you will gather into groups of 3-5 individuals depending on the size of your section. These groups will be the same ones you perform the canned experiments with. Groups across sections will NOT be permitted.

The topic of your project will be entirely up to you! You may design your experiment around anything that your group finds interesting as long as your project contains the four technical components listed above. You will have a vast arsenal of hardware that is available for your group to use to complete your projects. Core components that will be provided include: microcontrollers, various actuators, various sensors, and an arsenal of ancillaries. For more information on this, please read the “Engineering Support Provided” and the “Equipment Provided” sections of this page. There is a small budget of $50 allocated for this project, though plenty of hardware will already be provided. You are restricted only to the sensors, actuators, and microcontrollers we provide. There is a little wiggle room with this (e.g. if you need a different type of DC Motor or Servo than what is provided, you may put that on your BOM from an approved vendor and it can be purchased). However, some sensors, actuators, and projects may be rejected if the technical team decides we will not be able to adequetely support it in the allotted time and within the scope of this course.

Note: We will be providing Arduinos as the microcontroller because of the ready availability of the Simulink Arduino support package. This minimizes the necessity for your group to do any sort of coding. You are required to use Simulink or Arduino IDE for this project--this is so the TAs can better help all groups with troubleshooting their projects.

Once you have picked a topic, your group will submit a project proposal containing the information in the “Proposal Minimum Contents” section below. Upon submission of this proposal, the feasibility of your project will be assessed by a technical team consisting of the course professor, the lab manager, and the TA assigned to your section. This technical team will give you feedback and give you advice to ensure that your project is feasible and has an appropriate level of complexity while maintaining the overarching goal of the project. Once your project has been approved by the technical review team, you will begin working on your project.

Here is an example of a project to give you better context. This is not an entire project proposal but is more so to give you a better understanding of what your project may entail

  • Goal: I am interested in creating a controller for adaptive cruise control that will keep a car exactly 5 feet away from a moving wall. This will be a 1 DOF problem.

  • Controller Selection and Specifications: I decide to try to design a PID controller to achieve this goal. I will need to ensure that the controller design specifications needed to achieve the goal I want will allow me to implement a PID controller. If not, the controller type or experimental goals may need to change.

  • System Dynamics Modeling: I will need to model the physics-based system dynamics of applying torque to the wheels of the car to move it in the direction I want at the speed and acceleration I want.

  • Simulation: I will need to create a simulation of this system using the dynamics model I created. I decide to do this using Simulink.

  • Controller Design: I will need to design a [PID] controller that will effectively control my car to achieve the design specifications and overarching goals laid out. I decide to do this using Simulink. The controller type may need to change during this step, though my guess is a PID will work.

  • Hardware Implementation: I will need to design a hardware system to prove that my controller works. In this case, I decide to use an Arduino Uno, a linear position sensor, and a DC motor to turn the wheels of the car among various ancillaries.

  • Success Criteria: The distance error should be less than 3 inches at all times

Please know that this project is to be within the scope of this course—we are not expecting you to be doing experimentation worthy of journal articles! From a course perspective, we want you to gain good exposure to designing and implementing controllers, working with hardware, and understanding and developing the experimental process through your own expertise, though your TAs and course instructor will be available to help you. As such, please be aware of the following:

  • This project will be limited to 1 Degree of Freedom

  • Project pivots are permitted provided you are working hard towards your goals (TAs will be watching!). Trying, failing, and pivoting is permitted!

  • However, you MUST have presentable data and results at the end of the semester--pivot wisely and use your TAs!

  • All 4 mandatory technical components of the project must be accomplished

Project Proposal Minimum Contents

In order for us to fully assess the feasibility and support needs for your experiment, your proposal needs to be accurately and thoroughly communicated. As such, ensure it includes the following contents at a minimum. An example project proposal and a proposal template are provided at the end of this section to aid you in creating your proposals. Include:

  • Your section number and a list of group members

  • A short summary of what the over-arching goal of your experiment is (3-5 sentences)

  • What control specifications and requirements you are trying to achieve (success criteria)?

  • What type of controller you are planning on designing and implementing (PD, PID, etc.)?

  • What is your control signal and your control variable and how do you plan to measure them? (Hint: run this by your TAs)

  • A Bill of Materials using the form provided:

  • A GTAE Responsible Itemized Bill of Materials for all items you will use from the GTAE provided equipment (instrumentation/hardware/sensors/tools) including information on:

    • Item descriptions

    • Quantity of each item you will use

    • Note: It is best to do this in table format

  • A Team Responsible Itemized Bill of Materials for all parts you will need to supply outside of the GTAE provided equipment including information on:

    • Item descriptions

    • Quantities of each item

    • Unit Costs of each item

    • Extended costs (unit cost * quantity) of each item

    • The vendor name with a hyperlink to the specific URL for each item

      • GTAE can only buy from the four vendors listed here

      • You may purchase items from elsewhere but the team must purchase these themselves without GTAE financial support

    • Total cost of order

      • Remember your budget is $50

      • We do not pay sales tax

    • Note: It is best to do this in table format

  • Will you need LTWT or IFL access?

    • Training is required for this!

  • A short description of how your project covers the 4 mandatory technical components (1 sentence for each)

    • System Dynamics Modeling – Physics-based, System ID, etc.

    • Simulation – Not limited to Simulink. You may use any software you are comfortable with

    • Controller Design and Implementation

    • Physical Hardware – microcontrollers, actuators, sensors, etc.

  • List any software you will need outside of Simulink and Arduino IDE

  • What data you will be collecting and how you will process/reduce the data (if applicable)?

  • A high-level timeline outlining modeling, simulation, fabrication, testing, data processing, etc.

  • Note on your proposal if you will need to use the AE Machine Shop

    • Note: you MUST be machine shop trained to use the AE Machine Shop!

You are NOT free to format the above information according to your judgement. You must follow the format provided. Keep it short and to the point. Only the bare minimum to communicate the above in a readable fashion is required; bullet points and tables should cover most of it.

Write your proposal with the notion in mind that whoever is reading it has absolutely no idea what your project will be about and is reading it for the first time. After reading, they should be able to understand your project scope at a high level.

Below is an example proposal in pdf format:

Below is an example proposal in docx format. You may use this as a template to create your own.

Engineering Support Provided

Prior to proposal sign-off, each group's initial proposal will be reviewed by a technical review team including the Lab Manager, an assigned TA who will remain with you throughout the rest of the semester, and the course professor. Teams will have continued access to their assigned TAs for assistance during assigned lab times and, to a limited degree, other times throughout the week.

Within GT-AE, the Aero Maker Space and its mentors are available to you. If any of your group have completed Machine Shop training, you also have access to the machines therein. DO NOT USE THE MACHINE SHOP IF YOU ARE NOT TRAINED TO DO SO. The Machine Shop machinists SHOULD NOT BE APPROACHED FOR INDIVIDUAL HELP.

Outside of GT-AE, GT's other maker spaces are also available for your use, for example the Invention Studio and Hive Makerspace.

Finally, if your test plan requires something that will be useful to future 4610 semesters, GT-AE *may* provide engineering and financial support for these. Any such item should be proposed to the technical review team, but there is no implied guarantee of such support.

In all cases, please remember that all resources outside of your section are subject to real-life constraints and are not solely dedicated to your project. As such, there is no implied guarantee that any of these resources are available to you when and how you need them. Where possible, we recommend that you aim to be as self-sufficient as possible, to maximize your chance of success.

Lab Spaces Available

There are various shared laboratory spaces available for you to use within the AE department. All of these spaces require special training to gain buzzcard access and they will need to be booked ahead of time. Furthermore, you will need a laboratory-trained individual to be with you during operation of any equipment or testing of any kind in these spaces.

If you feel you must use one of these spaces for your project, reach out to your TA and tell them why you believe you will need to use the space. Your TA will reach out to the Lab Manager who will assess your need to use the space. If they deem it necessary for your project, one of the following will happen:

  1. A member (or members) of your group will be trained on how to use the lab space. That member will then gain buzzcard and calendar booking access for you to book the space and use for your project. The trained member(s) MUST be present during all usage of the space.

  2. Your TA will be trained on how to use the lab space. If this happens, your TA MUST be present during all usage of the space.

If you feel you can do your project without utilizing these spaces, that is completely fine. These spaces are not required to be used but are rather there in case you need to use them. The recommendation is to use spaces outside of these areas so as to decrease your own commitments and constraints.

Below is the list of shared laboratory spaces that are available for you:

Equipment Provided and Supplementary Budget

Equipment Provided by GTAE

This section provides a list of hardware provided by GTAE that is available for you to borrow. Some items are limited in quantity so your borrowing of this hardware is subject to availability.

!! YOU ARE RESTRICTED TO THE GTAE PROVIDED MICROCONTROLLERS, SENSORS, AND ACTUATORS THAT ARE LISTED BELOW !!

Microcontrollers:

  • Arduino Uno Rev3 SMD

  • Arduino Nano 33 IOT

  • Arduino Due

Sensors:

  • Adafruit 9-DOF Orientation IMU

    • Accelerometer, Magnetometer, 3 axis sensor evaluation board, gyroscope

  • Rotary Position:

    • 2W 10k-Ohm 10 turn potentiometer

    • Magnetic rotary position encoder with magnets

    • Normal potentiometer (300 degrees)

  • Linear Position:

    • 30-1000m time of flight distance sensor

    • 75 mm 10k-Ohm slide potentiometer

    • 10-250 cm ultrasonic sonar distance sensor

  • Microphone: 20Hz-20kHz microphone

  • 12" Liquid Level Sensor

Actuators:

  • Servos:

    • 9g micro servo

    • 55g servo

    • 20kg large servo

  • Stepper motor (small, medium, large) and Drivers

  • DC Motors:

    • 200 rpm small DC motor

    • 1000 rpm large DC motor

    • Brushless DC motor

  • Motor Shield for Arduino Uno

  • Relays:

    • MCU controlled AC relay

    • 30v 10a DC Relay

  • Fans:

    • 120mm PWM PC cooling fan

  • Submersible Water Pumps (small and large)

Ancillaries--an assortment of:

  • Wheels

  • Breadboard and Protoboards

  • Bare Wires

  • Jumper Wires (M-M, F-M, F-F)

  • Switches and Buttons

  • Resistors and Capacitors

  • LEDs

  • Power supplies

    • 5V 5A

    • 12V 5A

    • Variable voltage 45W

  • Servo cables

Tools:

  • Digital multimeters

  • General tools

  • General electronics tools

  • Heat shrink and heat gun

General Consumables

  • Adhesives (JB Weld, Kwikweld, Super Glue, Wood Glue, All-Purpose Glue)

  • Tape (Gorilla, Duct, Scotch, Packaging, Aluminum HVAC, Masking, Painters, Electrical)

Supplementary Budget

Each team will be allotted a $50 budget per group in case there is supplementary hardware you need in order to do your projects. Supplementary hardware must be approved by the lab manager before being purchased and MUST be on the hardware sign-out form. The $50 budget can only be spent at the following locations:

  • McMaster-Carr

  • Home Depot (Midtown Location Only) -- make sure it is in stock

  • Adafruit

  • Sparkfun

  • Amazon -- keep in mind some items are organization restricted and therefore cannot be ordered!

!! REMEMBER CORE HARDWARE (MCU, ACTUATORS, SENSORS) CANNOT BE PURCHASED WITH THIS SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET !!

You may purchase supplemental items for your projects from other locations if you wish but you must provide these items yourselves. GTAE will not financially support supplementary budgets over $50 or items purchased from vendors outside of those listed above without expressed approval from the lab manager.

This financial support will come in the form of a one-time purchase in the days after the final project proposal and BOM list is finalized. All items on your BOM list will be picked up in person by GTAE staff once and once only; it is on you to make sure your items are verified as in stock at the aforementioned locations. Items will be made available for pickup at the same time for all sections. An announcement will be made when items are available for pick-up. Any funds not used during this one-time purchase will be forever lost, so use it wisely. You will not be charged for sales tax. Purchases from other vendors or after this one-time purchase are permitted, but no funds or purchasing support for these items will be provided--you must purchase these yourselves.

General Consumables Available

In addition to discretionary funds for each section, GTAE also provides certain raw materials via the Aero Maker Space. The exact list of raw materials should be checked each semester with the AMS directly, but typically includes 3D printer filament, solder, various bits of plastic and wood, and lots of consumables.

GTAE will also provide any consumables that benefit AE4610 as a whole. All provided consumables are outlined in the Equipment Provided by GTAE section above under General Consumables. Note that general consumables are provided for typical small amounts of use. If you need a gallon of epoxy to mold something, that is not a typical small use! In this case, you must include epoxy in your "Team Responsible BOM" using the form and add the cost of this item to your total costs. We will make general consumables available to you in a common location for use (ESM G2) during the rest of the semester. You must still include small amount consumables provided by GTAE in your GTAE Responsible BOM list! This is to ensure enough of everything gets purchased.

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