About the Class
Stanford core graduate-level mechatronics class part 1 final project.
Project Decription from the Course Staff
Goal:
The goal of this project is to provide a framework in which you can apply your knowledge of microcontrollers to provide an enjoyable experience for users and observers.
Purpose:
The underlying purpose of this project is to give you some experience building an electromechanical widget. We expect that this will involve working with sensors, driving actuators, designing event-driven software, and implementing that software in C on a Tiva LaunchPad. We expect to see all of these elements in every solution. Your lab kit contains sensors and signal & power transistors, although you are not limited to using only these. You are limited to an expenditure of $175.00 / team for all materials and parts used in the construction of your project. Materials from the lab kit, the Cabinet of Freedom and any consumable supplies do not count against the limit; all other items count at their Market Value.
Background:
Congratulations! You have been selected for a free return one-way trip to Mars!
Elon Musk and SpaceX have made surprisingly fast progress on Starship, and the rocket launches on November 20. However, Elon hasn’t figured out anything else about this plan: what you’ll eat, what you’ll do for fun, what you’ll wear, where you’ll sleep, how to get around, how you’ll breathe, how you’ll avoid freezing, how you’ll avoid sublimating, how you’ll avoid being irradiated, how you’ll operate the life support systems — you know, the basics. You do have some help in the food department: Mark Watney has already figured out how to grow potatoes on Mars, so you won’t need to grow those—though it might still be nice to have some variety in your life on the Red Planet.
To that end, more practical minds at SpaceX have put out a request for proposals (RFP) for solutions that solve any or all of these challenges. Your task will be to develop, implement, and test a Portable Offworld Training And enTertainment Object (POTATO) before you’re strapped into the rocket and shipped to Mars (on November 20).
The Task:
Your POTATO will be installed in Starship (that is, distributed around the Atrium of Bldg. 550 (our classroom building)) to be presented to the Terrans Aboard The Enormous Rocket (TATERs). The TATERs will wander around the room interacting with the POTATOs1 to prepare for life on Mars. You should strive to make your POTATO exciting, active, durable, educational, and electromechanical.
All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct. Carl Sagan
Final Report
For our final report, we made a website!
My Contributions
I was responsible for the complete mechanical design and manufacture. I designed and fabricated the chassis, rack and pinion risers for the produce, rocket, levers, and all electronic component mounts.
Final Project Video
<iframe width=”640” height=”360” src=”“https://www.youtube.com/embed/vlIIudGW1Xc?si=6eyNUlnZOia9TbbF” frameborder=”0” allowfullscreen></iframe>
Skills
Computer-Aided Design (Solidworks), Laser Cutting, 3D Printing, Hand Tools, C