The Robotics Traveling Van project is focused on developing two low-cost, portable educational robots that demonstrate core control system concepts for K-12 outreach. Sponsored by Dr. Michael Shafer at Northern Arizona University, the project aims to create safe, durable, and visually engaging platforms that help students connect robot motion to ideas like feedback, stability, and actuation.
The team is developing two systems: the Inverted Pendulum Robot, which maintains balance of an attached inverted pendulum while students interact with it, and the Ball Beam Balance Robot that balances a pingpong ball on a half-pipe beam. Both robots are being designed to be mass producible, classroom friendly in size, and robust enough for repeated demonstrations in a traveling van outreach setting.
The project uses a structured design process that starts with customer and engineering requirements, followed by a House of Quality, benchmarking, and literature review to select concepts for both robots (mostly handled by the Mechanical Engineering side of the team). The team created functional decompositions, morphological charts, and Pugh charts to compare alternatives and choose final designs that balance performance, safety, and cost.
For the Inverted Pendulum Robot, the team modeled the inverted pendulum dynamics, performed controller design using methods such as PID and state space analysis, and developed a robust frame that can survive classroom use. For the Ball Beam Balance Robot, the team benchmarked ball-on-plate systems, derived ball-on-beam and motor torque equations, and built a physical ball-on-beam prototype to validate sensing, actuation, and control. Across both robots, the team used CAD modeling, 3D printing, electronics integration, and iterative prototyping informed by analysis and testing.
By the end of the project, the team intends to deliver: