While completing my BEng I have been given ample opportunity to put learnt skills and knowledge to practical use. Sadly, due to covid, a lot of what should have been large scale projects were downsized or turned to theoretical projects.
Here are some of the projects.
This was the first major group project in the first year. It introduced students to CAD and basic engineering principles.
The rocket cars themselves could be made from just about anything, and once designed and built the cars were placed in the wind tunnel to evaluate drag. The cars were then armed with model rocket engines and raced in an enclosed tennis court.
**The top picture shows 2 engines in 2 identical cars. My car did so well in my first year that I was asked if I could print another one and try it with 2 engines each vs. the original 1 engine/car.
This was a second-year project that was incredibly enlightening and also allowed me to strengthen my workshop skills.
The excel document shown was a key to success, as the formulae in it allowed for incredibly accurate values to be generated. As the design itself evolved, the changes (like venturi inlet and outlet) were just updated in the chart and a venturi diameter would be calculated that would provide the perfect air-fuel mixture.
My carburettor design came in 1st for efficiency and the design process and resulting protfolio gained me a final mark of 100% in the Design Project module.
The robot wars project is the largest second year project and the most famous... or infamous (depending on how your robot fairs).
The teams are formed by academic standing (top 5 engineering students make up team 1, lowest students make up team 28) interdisciplinary, encompassing Aero, Auto, Mech, and Electrical engineers.
I was the only mechanical on Team 1 with 4 Aeros, and 2 electrical.
We got our robot to our assembling stage, after machining the body, armour, and weapon (electricals are in charge of the electronics), before the first Covid lockdown closed the university.
