What do J.K. Rowling, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Dr. Seuss, and Thomas Edison have in common? Besides being totally brilliant and spectacular, all five masterminds faced many failures before achieving success.
When Dan presented our bill of materials to the class, the NOVA Lab inventors pointed out that the Section 333 Exemption does not cover a custom drone frame design. In order to track fine particulate matter, we will have to take our sensor off and place it on a smaller quad to obtain the readings outside. Our group still awaits operational approval.
Bill of materials infographic
With the materials pictured on the infographic, we will build a drone that can accurately survey and map areas with the most particulate matter. The dust sensors can detect PM that is 1 micrometer or larger. As PM2.5 is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, the sensors can pick up adequate dust measurements.
Additionally, our carbon fiber spars are stronger and lighter than aluminum spars. Our power distribution board has dual channel BEC output distribution, and it can support a maximum 100A current. The fr4s are strong with low water absorption and electrical insulating qualities. Finally, the carbon fiber propellers and aluminum motors will help ensure high quality readings.
Before arriving at success we must account for failures beyond that of the exemption. The propellers may skew the air quality samples taken by our drone sensors. To fix this, we could trial and error, adjusting the propellers as needed.
For our group, success looks like teamwork. Without group collaboration, the team loses its backbone. Support from all members is needed to achieve success, and our group has grown in both quantity and quality since our first few meetings. We now have industrial design, biology, engineering, communications, writing, and computer science students. This wide array of knowledge gives us high expectations for the outcome of our project.
With every failure comes a learning experience. What J.K. Rowling, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Dr. Seuss, and Thomas Edison have each showcased in very distinct ways were the lessons from seemingly catastrophic failures.
By Taylor Kahny