In an age of volatile weather conditions, golf courses, turf management companies, and caretakers of athletic fields all have difficulty accurately assessing the quality of their soil and taking steps to improve it. With this challenge in mind, our sponsor Emily Yale has created an electrically driven robot that aims to improve soil data collection. This robot autonomously navigates the property, performs soil testing, and generates information about how to effectively improve the conditions localized to small areas of the property.
Our senior design project centers around designing and prototyping a charging/docking
station for this robot. The structure created has been designed to not only withstand a variety of New England weather elements but also appeal to the high quality standards of golf course owners. Also included is a charging system with which the robot can interact autonomously. This prototype has been created with DFM (design for manufacture) techniques in mind. Our team had to work within a tight budget which required analyzing assembly methods, labor constraints, and precise material selection. Ultimately, we arrived at a product that satisfies sponsor requirements. In doing so we were proud to demonstrate our engineering and business knowledge, as well as increase our competencies in specific areas such as statics and electronics/circuitry.