Undoubtedly, one of the most talked about aspects of the major is the 1/C Capstone Design projects. During the 1/C year students get to design, build and test a project of their choosing. Depending on your interests the project can be an entirely unique idea, or it can be an entry in a design competition of some type, or perhaps a research project with a faculty mentor.
We'll let you build just about anything you can dream up (as long as its safe and we have the parts. Most teams consist of 2-3 students. Check out some of memorable capstone projects from previous years.
3-D Printed Prosthetic Hand
This project is a low-cost, highly customizable 3-D printed prosthetic limb for trans-radial amputees. The hand is controlled via myoelectric signals. In addition, a haptic feedback system is integrated into the prosthetic so that the user can "feel" force applied to the fingers of the prosthetic via vibro-motors.
Helium Balloon Surveillance
The goal of this project was to develop an ad-hoc network of large helium balloons which each had a sensor platform containing a camera and GPS. These students used coding to merge multiple video streams into a single mosaic to provide persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) over a large area.
Haptic Feedback Suit
Warfighters in the field are constantly tasked with an overwhelming set of responsibilities and goals. As a solution to the land navigation problem, these midshipmen developed a suit with built-in haptic actuators that were set to indicate the desired direction a user is supposed to go based on a desired path. This haptic feedback suit could significantly reduce the amount of time spent looking at a map and improve situational awareness. These midshipmen were the winners of the Marsh Award- the departmental prize for the best 1/C design project.
Lacrosse Ball Returner
These midshipman designed a device that could reduce time wasted retrieving shot lacrosse balls. They developed a cost-effective system capable of returning a lacrosse ball to a shooter's exact location while practicing shooting on goal.
As part of the capstone experience, many of our students elect to participate in technical or design competitions. Many of these teams work with midshipman from other majors. Often the students and their faculty mentors traveled to a national or international competition to showcase their work.
Student Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Competition
The AUVSI Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) competition simulates real-world unmanned aerial operations to foster interest in the growing area of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This is a multipart competition involving the design, fabrication, documentation, guidance, and control of an integrated UAV. Specific competition tasks include reliable take-off and landing, fundamental maneuvers, vision-based target acquisition, waypoint navigation, and aerial payload delivery. For more information, visit the USNA team's page.
SailBot
Imagine trying to teach a robot to sail. That is exactly what this group of students had to do when they entered the first international autonomous sailboat competition, hosted here on the Chesapeake Bay. They retro-fitted a standard, small, sailboat with digital sensors such as GPS, a compass and wind-speed indicators. All that information was fed into an on-board computer which controlled various motors to adjust the rudder and sails.
Nanogram Soccer Robot
Have you ever watched a soccer match through a microscope? RoboCop International sponsored a competition in which Micro Electrical Mechanical (MEM) devices were pitted against each other in a soccer match. The field is so small (2.5 mm), you need a microscope to see it. Systems Engineering, in a joint effort with students and faculty from the Electrical Engineering department, entered the first ever such competition. They designed and fabricated the microscopic devices and controlled them by sending various electrical signals through the paying field.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
The AUVSI organization sponsors an annual competition in San Diego, CA. Student groups must design and build a completely autonomous underwater vehicle (no remote control). Events include, navigating through a series of underwater gates using underwater cameras, and surfacing within a specified area. Students and faculty from Systems Engineering have led the Naval Academy team for the past 3 years. This August they took 5th of 25 teams.
Systems Ball
Before there were BattleBots and Robot Wars...there was Systems Ball! For the past 20 years students in the Systems Engineering department have chosen to participate in a unique type of intramural sport – robotic combat. The rules are simple: Climb the ramp, and try to place the ping pong ball in the hoop to score. Along the way, try to do as much damage as possible to your opponent. Some of the entries have been downright diabolical, sporting hammers, saw blades, axes and all sorts of crazy weapons. One of the teams even had an audio speaker on their entry to hurl insults at the competition. Join us on the last day of every spring semester as we celebrate all that is great about engineering with door prizes, a halftime show, and lots of exciting competition.
Unmanned Mapping Reconnaissance Vehicle
Boeing Defense, Space, and Security Systems, a division of The Boeing Company, sponsors this competition comprising teams from the US Naval Academy, the US Military Academy, and the US Air Force Academy. The objective for each team is to design an unmanned autonomous system capable of rapid deployment, area mapping, information reconnaissance, and processing delivering a usable battle-space map updated in quasi real-time to the operator. The system can consists of a single or multiple unmanned vehicles. For more information, click here.
