Project Description

Overview

The Robotics Traveling Van project focuses on designing and building 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, highly durable, and visually engaging platforms that help students connect physical robot kinematics to abstract ideas like feedback loops, stability, and actuation.

The team is developing two integrated systems: Robot 1, an inverted pendulum robot designed to maintain dynamic balance while students physically interact with it, and Robot 2, a ball-balancing platform that utilizes a center-pivot ball-on-beam architecture. Both robots are engineered specifically for a pilot-run manufacturing scale, ensuring they are classroom-friendly, robust enough to survive repeated physical demonstrations, and visually professional.

Approach

The project utilizes a rigorous engineering design process, translating customer needs into strict engineering requirements through House of Quality matrices, benchmarking, and functional decompositions. To bridge the gap between mechanical hardware and electrical control, the team focused heavily on Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA).

For Robot 1, the team modeled the inverted pendulum dynamics to design a highly resilient frame capable of surviving classroom drop tests, creating a stable physical baseline for the state space and PID controllers to operate effectively.

For Robot 2, the team engineered a center pivot mechanical architecture to minimize rotational inertia, allowing the NEMA 17 stepper motors to react instantaneously to PID feedback. Custom 3D printed PLA and PETG chassis components were developed with integrated mechanical hard stops and protective sensor housings to shield delicate electronics from student handling.

Across both platforms, the mechanical infrastructure developed through iterative SolidWorks CAD modeling and high tolerance 3D printing serves as the secure foundation for the electrical team’s sensors, microcontrollers, and real time control algorithms.

Expected Outcomes

By the culmination of the project, the team will deliver:

• Two Fully Functional Educational Robots: An inverted pendulum and a ball-on-beam system, optimized for immediate deployment in K-12 classrooms.
• Classroom-Ready Mechanical Architecture: Highly robust, portable designs featuring enclosed wiring, heat-set threaded inserts for structural integrity, impact-resistant sensor mounts, and emergency stop capabilities.
• Integrated Control Systems: Active PID feedback controllers that physically demonstrate how sensor measurements and motor torque directly manipulate robot motion in real-time.
• Comprehensive Engineering Documentation: Complete technical data packages including ASME Y14.5 compliant engineering drawings, top-level CAD assemblies, detailed purchasing Bills of Materials (BOM), and classroom curriculum guides.
• A Scalable Manufacturing Plan: A repeatable production framework designed for small-batch manufacturing, ensuring the Robotics Traveling Van fleet can be easily expanded for future NAU outreach programs.