STEM Education in Africa: Engineering Student’s Story
Summary of the Drone Project Challenges
This excerpt details the struggles a team of mechanical engineering students at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria faced while building a drone for a school project. Here’s a breakdown of the challenges they encountered:
Budget Constraints: They had to significantly reduce the scope of the project (removing the surveillance aspect) and compromise on component quality to stay within their 350,000 naira (US $249) budget.
Supply Chain Delays: A Chinese holiday delayed the arrival of crucial components until March, putting them dangerously close to their semester deadline and conflicting with mandatory industrial training. This caused tension with their advisor, dr. Ajayi.
Component Unavailability & Improvisation: A key component, the power-distribution board, became unavailable, forcing them to improvise with a Veroboard, incurring additional costs for tools like soldering irons and multimeters.
Obsolete Technology: The ArduCopter 2.8 flight controller they received was obsolete, and they couldn’t afford to replace it with a newer Pixhawk 2.4.8 (240,000 naira / US $150) due to time and financial constraints.
Configuration difficulties: Despite extensive research and troubleshooting,they were unable to successfully configure the obsolete flight controller using Mission Planner software.
Time Pressure: The looming semester deadline and the need to complete mandatory industrial training created immense pressure to finish the project, even if it meant proceeding with a partially functional drone.
Despite these setbacks, the students were persistent to proceed, focusing on getting the rotors synchronized even without a functioning flight controller. The excerpt highlights the resourcefulness and resilience required to overcome obstacles in a challenging engineering project.