Themed Entertainment Mechatronics
1st Place Interdisciplinary Project
Mechanical Design Lead
Fall 2020 - Spring 2021
Worked with a team of fellow TEA@UCF members to design and build a teleoperated interactive animated figure for our senior design project. The scaled prototype, named Drillbit, had the ability to interact with guests through a live audio feed, and remote operators had the ability to both drive the figure around as well as puppet the figure's movements so the figure could hold animated conversations. My team won first place in the interdisciplinary category at the UCF CECS Senior Design Showcase!
My Contribution:
As Mechanical Design Lead, I oversaw the creation of Solidworks models, prepared testing protocols and design requirements, and helped with testing and assembly of the figure. Aside from my role, I focused specifically on detailed work with drive train and chassis assembly as well as the script, production, and editing of the team video. Throughout the project I also contributed widely to the deliverable design papers and formal project reports.
Lessons Learned:
This is the first design project that followed the formal engineering design process from beginning to end, and I learned a lot about the relationship between stakeholder/customer requirements, engineering specifications, and design requirements. I also learned the importance of balancing the documentation of work with the actual prototyping/testing/assembly time in lab - one might be more fun but they are both equally important.
Themed Entertainment Mechatronics - Final Video Submission
As the Senior Design showcase was held virtually this year, the team created a 10 minute video to summarize the project. Notable highlights include project demo at 3:12 and testing procedures at 6:36.
