Building blocks engineering - Modular robotics challenge

This challenge was the capstone engineering project during my senior year in high school. The project was simulated to be a DARPA challenge with two design teams of 14 students competing for a contract. The challenge required each team to design and build an autonomous, modular robotic system that could perform five different tasks. All of the modules that would build the systems needed to fit into a provided bucket, and needed to be capable of being easily assembled and disassembled. The entire system needed to be designed with ease-of-use and the goal of being taken to market in mind. Throughout the course of the challenge, teams needed to undergo Critical Design Reviews during which the progress was presented to a panel of engineers.

As a Deputy Project Manager of Building Blocks Engineering, I assisted in the general management of the team by managing the budget and schedule, assisting in design decisions, and drafting documents for CRDs. One of my main contributions to the project was being the lead engineer on the standardized modular design which allowed us to minimize design and manufacturing time. This design was the foundation for our entire system and also featured the necessary inter-modular physical, magnetic, and data connections.

To minimize cost and manufacturing time, we standardized the robotic modules. This design included physical, magnetic, and data connections.

This is one modular orientation of the system. There are 4 wheel, 1 brain, and 1 sensor module, which are used in various configurations.

This was the stair climbing, fire-fighting configuration for the system. The stair climbing mechanism was two motor-powered, threaded rods.

All of the modules had to fit into the bucket, which also had the user interface. Our solution featured a unique removable rack.

Our final product and presentation was displayed at an end-of-the-year engineering fair.