Third year projects

The students were tasked with completing a range of exciting designs that involve combining knowledge from many different disciplines. These included the following projects:

  • Microprocessor Controlled Synchronous Machine
  • Exercise Bike with Heart Rate Control
  • Electrical Assist Bicycle
  • Autonomous Intruder Detection Vehicle
  • Warehouse Robots
  • Robotic Arm Playing Tic Tac Toe
  • Optimal Capacitor Charging Controller Design
  • Energy Efficient Smart Home System Development, Smart Appliances or Smart Phone Applications
  • Helicopter Control

While completing their projects, the students have noted the difference between a design and its practical implementation. One student remarked, "You can plan it and simulate it but when you built it, it can be a lot different."

Others have stressed the importance of preparation, research and teamwork as well as the difficulties that can be caused when bringing different parts of the work together. While the tasks have been quite challenging, completing these mini-projects has helped them to gain some perspective and a bit of practice for the final year projects they will tackle next year.

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<p>Kyan Sim Ang, Alex Coleman and Sara Gilbert have designed a fleet of autonomous robots that navigate around a 1.5 square metered grid.</p> <p>A colour sensor picks up when the robot has moved into a different square and increments the x or y coordinates. The team also used an electromagnetic, or robotic gripper, to to help the robots to pick up and move an object or a steel ball bearing.</p><p>May Su Sandy Lwin, John Porter and Rob Toner have designed an autonomous intruder detection system. </p> <p>The autonomous robots are designed to patrol around a room, avoiding obstacles. When it detects a human heat signal, the robot triggers an alarm and sends an image to the user's desktop, alerting them to the presence of an intruder in area. </p><p>&#34;Having all of the components working together is the trick,&#34; said group member Rob Toner.</p> <p>This has been the major challenge for many of the different groups, their individual components may perform on their own but have thrown up challenges when combined.</p><p>Myat Thiri Aung Kyan and Phil Pilcher have also undertaken the autonomous intruder detection vehicle project.</p><p>Myat Thiri Aung Kyan and Phil Pilcher have also undertaken the autonomous intruder detection vehicle project.</p><p>Mazen Almozeni, Sam Al-Attiyah and Shaun Herd have also undertaken the autonomous intruder detection vehicle project.</p><p>Mazen Almozeni, Sam Al-Attiyah and Shaun Herd have also undertaken the autonomous intruder detection vehicle project.</p><p>Mazen Almozeni, Sam Al-Attiyah and Shaun Herd have also undertaken the autonomous intruder detection vehicle project.</p><p>Michael Wood, Dane Fernandez and Daniel Heyes were tasked with developing a control system that allows an operator to control a helicopter through their body movements.</p><p>The team have used an the XBox Kinect add-on, connected to a computer and controlled through an interface, to cause the quadrotorcopter to perform a range of movements based on the hand and leg position of the person standing in front of the device</p><p>The visually exciting project can be seen in action in the video below.</p><p>May Thwe Min Han and Sam Wolinski have programmed a robotic arm to play noughts and crosses. While they didn't have to manipulate many components in their design, their work involved a lot programming, including high levels of C++, to get their robotic arm to tackle tic tac toe.</p><p>Kyaw Soe Linn and his team have tackled the electrical assist bike project. Their aim was to provide a mechanism where the rider of a bicycle can select how much assistance is provided by an electric motor coupled to the rear wheel.</p><p>Daniel Chapman, Daniel McDonald and Nick Davis' project was to modify an exercise bike to keep the rider at a constant heart rate by varying the load over the motor.</p><p>Rather than having any major issues, the team ran into smaller troubles during the construction phase as well as interfacing the wireless and connecting the peripherals. Through this challenging experience they have found that though you can plan and simulate your design, things can be a lot different when you begin implementation </P><p>Shannon Wrede, Rowan Yap and Nyssa Wellings took on the microprocessor controlled synchronous machine. The project, which they say has been 85% successful, aimed to synchronise a machine to a grid which could then be used for power factor correction. </p> <p>On reflection, the team felt that this course has allowed them to learn more about the electronics and physical aspects of their degree. While they had previously completed a lot of theoretical work, these ideas had yet to be implemented in a practical sense. </p> <p>&#34;Even though some things went a little bit wrong, or took longer than expected, we still had fun and worked well as a team,&#34; said group member Nyssa Wellings.</p>