In the world today of increasing online sales, here at CVTC we know distribution is in great need of streamlining the supply chain. This mobile robot platform, we call Merry, can solve many of these problems in various different configurations including pick and place tasks.
Discussion from the 2020 STEM For All Video Showcase (13 posts)
Rick Heuer
Co-Presenter Student
May 5, 2020 | 08:58 a.m.
Hey everyone! Welcome to our video. We're looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts and discussing autonomous technologies. We hope you like Merry!
Mercy Mugo
Facilitator Senior Research Analyst and Grants Specialist
May 5, 2020 | 05:06 p.m.
I enjoyed Merry! How are you involving students in the project?
Mahmood Lahroodi
Lead Presenter Instructor
May 5, 2020 | 05:58 p.m.
Rick Heuer, Mechanical Design student at CVTC designed this mobile robot platform as a capstone project. He combined his 3D modeling and analysis skills to develop this machine.
Jeremy Roschelle
Facilitator Director
May 6, 2020 | 12:05 p.m.
Hi Rick,
Nice robot. What are the implications for STEM education?
jeremy
Mahmood Lahroodi
Lead Presenter Instructor
May 6, 2020 | 02:03 p.m.
We have leveraged Additive Manufacturing, CAD, Digital Control, and Machine Learning technologies across this robot design. This platform with versatile applications could be a good resource for Project-Based Learning (PBL).
Rick Heuer
Co-Presenter Student
May 6, 2020 | 02:11 p.m.
Hi Jeremy,
This mobile robot has been very useful to us as a practical tool in understanding SCIENCE by making the connection of the sensors and programmable logic controller (PLC) to our Human senses and to how our brain works. With TECHNOLOGY with can understand the programming perimeters in order for Merry to complete her tasks. In the future we would like to incorporate cloud computing to make the tasks more versatile. With ENGINEERING we use Solidworks (CAD) program to design and use finite element analysis (FEA) to load test our designs before prototyping saving huge amounts of time and money. With MATH we are able to hand calculate the strength of materials we wish to use in our project finding a factor of safety from failure before we start designing. Thanks for watching, I'm glad you liked it!!!
Gerhard Salinger
Facilitator Retired Program Officer
May 6, 2020 | 12:38 p.m.
This is certainly a versatile robot. Is this part of a special capstone course? How does it motivate the learning of fundamental concepts in engineering, mathematics or science?
Mahmood Lahroodi
Lead Presenter Instructor
May 6, 2020 | 02:10 p.m.
This project is part of the 606-151 ( Capstone Design Project) course. The main design intent is combining different disciplines of STEM in a simple and affordable platform. We know students learn by the simplicity of design and get inspired and motivated by the complexity of the design. This platform opens doors for both approaches.
Rick Heuer
Co-Presenter Student
May 6, 2020 | 02:52 p.m.
Hi Gerhard,
As part of the Mechanical Design program at CVTC we utilize project based learning (PBL). I find that PBL inspires and motivates the students, instilling personal pride in a project that they're interested in and actually had a hand in developing, much like in industry. The capstone portion of the Mechanical Design program also includes technical reporting of data from analysis, complications or problems that may arise from geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.(GD+T), cost analysis and feasibility considerations, and also drafting of proposals simulating industry experiences.
As I mentioned in Jeremy's reply, in mechanical design, and with the "Merry" project every aspect of STEM gets covered systematically as the product becomes developed through prototyping. Thanks for checking in.. .
What a neat comprehensive STEM project for the students to get involved with. Is there any data/outcomes that you are tracking for assessment? Learning?
Mahmood Lahroodi
Lead Presenter Instructor
May 12, 2020 | 11:44 a.m.
We are working on developing a performance-based assessment for our PBL (Project-Based Learning) method.
Interesting video! How exactly are you using machine learning with Merry? The video doesn't mention any sensors on the platform.
Mahmood Lahroodi
Lead Presenter Instructor
May 12, 2020 | 11:42 a.m.
We have used the Adaptive Filter and LMS algorithm to train the robot. I would consider LMS as a super simple machine learning algorithm and a very good tool for educational purposes. You may want to watch our previous design that shows how we utilized machine learning:
Rick Heuer
Student
Hey everyone! Welcome to our video. We're looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts and discussing autonomous technologies. We hope you like Merry!
Mercy Mugo
Senior Research Analyst and Grants Specialist
I enjoyed Merry! How are you involving students in the project?
Mahmood Lahroodi
Instructor
Rick Heuer, Mechanical Design student at CVTC designed this mobile robot platform as a capstone project. He combined his 3D modeling and analysis skills to develop this machine.
Jeremy Roschelle
Director
Hi Rick,
Nice robot. What are the implications for STEM education?
jeremy
Mahmood Lahroodi
Instructor
We have leveraged Additive Manufacturing, CAD, Digital Control, and Machine Learning technologies across this robot design. This platform with versatile applications could be a good resource for Project-Based Learning (PBL).
Rick Heuer
Student
Hi Jeremy,
This mobile robot has been very useful to us as a practical tool in understanding SCIENCE by making the connection of the sensors and programmable logic controller (PLC) to our Human senses and to how our brain works. With TECHNOLOGY with can understand the programming perimeters in order for Merry to complete her tasks. In the future we would like to incorporate cloud computing to make the tasks more versatile. With ENGINEERING we use Solidworks (CAD) program to design and use finite element analysis (FEA) to load test our designs before prototyping saving huge amounts of time and money. With MATH we are able to hand calculate the strength of materials we wish to use in our project finding a factor of safety from failure before we start designing. Thanks for watching, I'm glad you liked it!!!
Gerhard Salinger
Retired Program Officer
This is certainly a versatile robot. Is this part of a special capstone course? How does it motivate the learning of fundamental concepts in engineering, mathematics or science?
Mahmood Lahroodi
Instructor
This project is part of the 606-151 ( Capstone Design Project) course. The main design intent is combining different disciplines of STEM in a simple and affordable platform. We know students learn by the simplicity of design and get inspired and motivated by the complexity of the design. This platform opens doors for both approaches.
Rick Heuer
Student
Hi Gerhard,
As part of the Mechanical Design program at CVTC we utilize project based learning (PBL). I find that PBL inspires and motivates the students, instilling personal pride in a project that they're interested in and actually had a hand in developing, much like in industry. The capstone portion of the Mechanical Design program also includes technical reporting of data from analysis, complications or problems that may arise from geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.(GD+T), cost analysis and feasibility considerations, and also drafting of proposals simulating industry experiences.
As I mentioned in Jeremy's reply, in mechanical design, and with the "Merry" project every aspect of STEM gets covered systematically as the product becomes developed through prototyping. Thanks for checking in.. .
Michael I. Swart
What a neat comprehensive STEM project for the students to get involved with. Is there any data/outcomes that you are tracking for assessment? Learning?
Mahmood Lahroodi
Instructor
We are working on developing a performance-based assessment for our PBL (Project-Based Learning) method.
David Touretzky
Interesting video! How exactly are you using machine learning with Merry? The video doesn't mention any sensors on the platform.
Mahmood Lahroodi
Instructor
We have used the Adaptive Filter and LMS algorithm to train the robot. I would consider LMS as a super simple machine learning algorithm and a very good tool for educational purposes. You may want to watch our previous design that shows how we utilized machine learning:
https://youtu.be/JjadopEBiJA
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.