Engineering Design Review: Autonomous Machine
Today we are reviewing prototype designs for the assignment and reflecting on the meanings of autonomy.
Deliverables for today:
- Revise the mechanical design on paper.
- Sketch the basic electronic design on paper.
- Write two-sentence description of proposed behavior.
- Outline proposed control strategy on paper.
Criteria for an engineering review. Will it work?
- could someone else build it from your drawings?
- what tools and machines are required for fabrication?
- are all standard components identified?
- are all materials identified?
- is it kinematically well-defined?
- how is friction managed?
- are the structural components appropriate for expected loads?
- are the actuators sized appropriately?
- are the transmission ratios appropriate?
- what kind of embedded computation is required?
- are the interface circuits appropriate?
- is the software control strategy plausible?
- what kind of power source is required?
- is there an estimate of overall cost?
- is there an estimate of overall fabrication time?
Criteria for a project review. Is it a compelling idea?
- What is your two-sentence description of proposed behavior?
- What are the fundamental inputs and outputs?
- Is it autonomous? (See below for additional prompts.)
- Is the outcome congruous with the complexity?
- Are the physical and computational dynamics complementary?
Is it autonomous?
- what does it do with no humans present?
- what does it do in an unfamiliar test environment?
- does it exhibit logic and memory?
- does the physical performance indicate an internal state?
- does the action change over time?
- how does it handle physical contact?
- can a goal or purpose be inferred by observation? over what time scale?
Laser Cutter Tutorial and Qualification
Dave Touretsky has written very usable instructions for our IDeATe laser cutters.
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