The package deal containing the ArduCopter 2.8 board lastly arrived from China, bearing the burden of our anticipation. I keep in mind selecting it up, the cardboard field weathered barely from its journey. As I tore by the layers of tape, it felt like unwrapping a long-awaited reward. However as I lifted the ArduCopter 2.8 board out of the field, my coronary heart sank. The board, which was to be the cornerstone of our challenge, seemed worn out and previous, with seen scuffs and bent pins. This was simply one among a cascade of setbacks my workforce would face.
It began after I was assigned a challenge in machine design at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), situated within the coronary heart of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an historic Yoruba metropolis in Osun State, in southwest Nigeria, the place I’m a mechanical engineering scholar getting into my last yr of a five-year program. OAU is one among Nigeria’s oldest and most prestigious universities, recognized for its lovely campus and structure. Some individuals I do know consult with it because the “Stanford of Nigeria” due to the numerous variety of sensible startups it has spun off. Regardless of its popularity, although, OAU—like each different federally owned establishment in Nigeria—is underfunded and plagued by faculty strikes, resulting in interruptions in lecturers. The shortage of funding means college students should pay for his or her undergraduate initiatives themselves, making the success of any challenge closely depending on the scholars’ monetary capabilities.
Dr. Oluwaseun K. Ajayi, an knowledgeable in computer-aided design (CAD), machine design, and mechanisms, gave us the liberty to decide on our last challenge. I proposed a analysis challenge based mostly on a paper titled “Advance Simulation Technique for Wheel-Terrain Interactions of House Rovers: A Case Examine on the UAE Rashid Rover” by Ahmad Abubakar and coauthors. However as a result of computational assets required, it was rejected. Dr. Ajayi as an alternative proposed that my fellow college students and I construct a surveillance drone, because it aligned together with his personal analysis. Dr. Ajayi, a passionate and pushed researcher, was motivated by the potential real-world functions of our challenge. His fixed push for progress, whereas typically overwhelming, was rooted in his want to see us produce significant work.
As my workforce completed scoping out the preliminary ideas of the drone in CAD designs, we have been able to contribute cash towards implementing our concept. We carried out a price evaluation and determined to make use of a third-party vendor to assist us order our parts from China. We went this route as a result of delivery and customs points we’d beforehand skilled. Taking the third-party route was supposed to resolve the issue. Little did we suspect what was coming.
By the point we finalized our value evaluation and began to collect funds, the value of the parts we wanted had skyrocketed as a result of a sudden financial disaster and depreciation of the Nigerian naira by 35 p.c in opposition to the U.S. greenback on the finish of January 2024. This was the genesis of our drawback.
Initially, we have been a bunch of 12, however as a result of excessive value per individual, Dr. Ajayi requested one other group, led by Tonbra Suoware, to merge with mine. Tonbra’s workforce had been planning a robotic arm project till Dr. Ajayi merged our groups and instructed us to work on the drone, with the purpose of exhibiting it on the National Space Research and Development Agency, in Abuja, Nigeria. The merger elevated our group to 25 members, which helped with the person monetary burden but additionally meant that not everybody would actively take part within the challenge. Many simply contributed their share of the cash.
Tonbra and I drove the challenge ahead.
With Dr. Ajayi’s consent, my teammates and I scrapped the “surveillance” a part of the drone challenge and raised the cash for creating simply the drone, totaling roughly 350,000 naira (roughly US $249). We needed to minimize down prices, which meant straying away from the unique specs of among the parts, just like the flight controller, battery, and power-distribution board. In any other case, the fee would have been far more insufferable.
We have been set to order the parts from China on 5 February 2024. Sadly, it was a protracted vacation in China, we have been informed, so we wouldn’t get the parts till March. This led to tense discussions with Dr. Ajayi, regardless of having briefed him in regards to the scenario. Why the stress? Our college semester ends in March, and having parts arrive in March would imply that the challenge could be lengthy overdue by the point we completed it. On the similar time, we college students had a obligatory academic-industrial coaching on the finish of the semester.
Oluwatosin Kolade, a mechanical engineering scholar at Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo College, says the drone challenge taught him the worth of failure.Andrew Esiebo
However what alternative did we’ve got? We couldn’t again down from the challenge—that will have value us our grade.
We obtained most of our parts by mid-March, and instantly began engaged on the drone. We had the body 3D-printed at a price of fifty naira (roughly US $0.03) per gram for a 570-gram body, for a complete value of 28,500 naira (roughly US $18).
Subsequent, we turned to constructing the power-distribution system for {the electrical} parts. Initially, we’d deliberate to make use of a power-distribution board to evenly distribute energy from the battery to the velocity controllers and the rotors. Nonetheless, the board we initially ordered was not out there. Compelled to improvise, we used a Veroboard as an alternative. We linked the battery in a configuration parallel to the velocity controllers to make sure that every rotor obtained equal energy. This improvisation did imply further prices, as we needed to hire soldering irons, hand drills, scorching glue, cables, a digital multimeter, and different instruments from an electronics hub in downtown Ilé-Ifẹ̀.
The whole lot was going easily till it was time to configure the flight controller—the ArduCopter 2.8 board—with the help of a software program program known as Mission Planner. We toiled day by day, combing by YouTube movies, on-line boards, Stack Change, and different assets for steering, all to no avail. We even downgraded the Mission Planner software program a few occasions, solely to find that the board we’d waited for therefore patiently was out of date. It was actually heartbreaking, however we couldn’t order one other one as a result of we didn’t have time to attend for it to reach. Plus, getting one other flight controller would’ve value a further sum—240,000 naira (about US $150) for a Pixhawk 2.4.8 flight controller—which we didn’t have.
We knew our drone could be half-baked with out the flight controller. Nonetheless, given our semester-ending time constraint, we determined to proceed with the configuration of the transmitter and receiver. We made the ultimate connections and examined the parts with out the flight controller. To make sure that the transmitter may management all 4 rotors concurrently, we examined every rotor individually with every transmitter channel. The aim was to assign a single channel on the transmitter that will activate and synchronize all 4 rotors, permitting them to spin in unison throughout flight. This was essential, as a result of with out correct synchronization, the drone wouldn’t be capable to preserve a steady flight.
“This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the tough realities of engineering initiatives finished by college students in Nigeria.”
After the ultimate configuration and parts testing, we got down to take a look at our drone in its last type. However a couple of minutes into the testing, our battery failed. This failure meant the challenge had failed, and we have been extremely upset.
After we lastly submitted our challenge to Dr. Ajayi, the deadline had handed. He informed us to cost the battery so he may see the drone come alive, regardless that it couldn’t fly. However circumstances didn’t enable us to order a battery charger, and we have been at a loss as to the place to get assist with the flight controller and battery. There aren’t any tech hubs out there for such issues in Ilé-Ifẹ̀. We informed Dr. Ajayi we couldn’t do as he’d requested and defined the scenario to him. He lastly allowed us to submit our work, and all workforce members obtained course credit score.
Resourcefulness is just not an alternative to funding
This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the tough realities of engineering initiatives finished by college students in Nigeria. It confirmed me that whereas technical data is essential, the flexibility to adapt and improvise when confronted with unexpected challenges is simply as essential. I additionally discovered that failure, although disheartening, is just not an ending however a stepping stone towards development and enchancment.
In my faculty, the calls for on mechanical engineering college students are exceptionally excessive. As an example, in a single semester, I used to be typically assigned as much as 4 completely different main initiatives, every from a special professor. Alongside the drone challenge, I labored on two different substantial initiatives for different programs. The truth is {that a} scholar’s potential to attain nicely in these initiatives is usually closely depending on monetary assets. We’re continually burdened with the prices of working quite a few initiatives. The nation’s ongoing financial challenges, together with forex devaluation and inflation, solely exacerbate this burden.
In essence, when the world, together with graduate-school-admission committees and trade recruiters, evaluates transcripts from Nigerian engineering graduates, it’s essential to acknowledge {that a} grade could not absolutely mirror a scholar’s capabilities in a given course. They’ll additionally mirror monetary constraints, difficulties in sourcing tools and supplies, and the broader financial surroundings. This understanding should inform how transcripts are interpreted, as they inform a narrative not simply of educational efficiency but additionally of perseverance within the face of great challenges.
As I advance in my schooling, I plan to use these classes to future initiatives, figuring out that perseverance and resourcefulness might be key to overcoming obstacles. The failed drone challenge has additionally given me a sensible glimpse into the working world, the place surprising setbacks and funds constraints are frequent. It has ready me to method my profession with each a sensible mindset and an understanding that success usually comes from how nicely you handle difficulties, not simply how nicely you execute plans.
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