Robotic walkers come to life in ME 370 final

Mechanical Design I (ME 370), the third course in the design-stem sequence for MechSE undergrads, culminated the semester last week with a final competition and showcase of the students’ projects.

Since 2013, when the Innovation Studio opened, ME 370 students have participated in a semester-long project which demonstrates the skills and knowledge that they have acquired throughout the course. This year, students were challenged with creating a four-legged autonomous robot using a gear-cam system and a rigid linkage system. Thirty teams competed their robots three at a time in an attempt to cross a 10-meter by 1.5-meter course.

“Students use what we learned in class with cams and gears and linkages to try to create a reliable mechanism. All of these engineers are going to need to get jobs where their reliability is important for society, so this is a great lesson in variability, tolerancing, and design of experiments for optimization,” said Teaching Assistant Professor Bruce Flachsbart, one of the course instructors this semester.

“I like the freedom of design. There are so many ways we could take the project and run with it,” Kamden Damrow said.

Each of the teams spent the semester designing and building their robots using resources such as the Innovation Studio to manufacture their parts. Students had access to 3D printers as well as laser-cutters to cut acrylic. Using the knowledge learned in lecture, they were able to create mechanical systems to move their walkers. Teams also customized their robots with unique and creative themes including animals, Optimus Prime, and Christmas.

“I really liked seeing our ideas come to reality and seeing it work. Or, if it doesn’t work, making the changes to make it work,” said Kenta Hirashima.