Spring 2019

Spring 2019 Muhammad Rashid Best Project Award winners.

Spring 2019 First Place

2019 IEEE SoutheastCon Hardware Competition
Team Members 
Andrew Petrovsky, Michael Wagner, Dustin Williams
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Andreas Fuchs
Abstract
Space debris, and the threat it poses to current and future exploration is the theme for the IEEE SoutheastCon 2019 Hardware Competition. The goal of this project is to design and build an autonomous robot that will traverse an orbital field and remove debris from the orbital path while avoiding specific obstacles. The robot is divided into three subsystems: locomotion, navigation, and debris capture. The locomotion subsystem employs motors with encoders controlled via a microcontroller to perform precise movements. Navigation is based around a scanning LiDAR sensor coupled with Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms which enable the robot to map its environment and orient itself in real time. Debris capture is accomplished mostly through behavior, with a recessed skid plate that can accumulate objects as exhaustive searches of the field are made.