The package deal containing the ArduCopter 2.8 board lastly arrived from China, bearing the burden of our anticipation. I bear in mind selecting it up, the cardboard field weathered barely from its journey. As I tore via 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 The board, which was to be the cornerstone of our venture, regarded worn out and outdated, with seen scuffs and bent pins. This was simply considered one of a cascade of setbacks my staff would face.
It began after I was assigned a venture 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 pupil coming into my ultimate 12 months of a five-year program. OAU is considered one of Nigeria’s oldest and most prestigious universities, recognized for its stunning campus and structure. Some folks I do know consult with it because the “Stanford of Nigeria” due to the numerous variety of good 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 teachers. The dearth of funding means college students should pay for his or her undergraduate tasks themselves, making the success of any venture closely depending on the scholars’ monetary capabilities.
Dr. Oluwaseun K. Ajayi, an professional in computer-aided design (CAD), machine design, and mechanisms, gave us the liberty to decide on our ultimate venture. I proposed a analysis venture based mostly on a paper titled “Advance Simulation Methodology for Wheel-Terrain Interactions of House Rovers: A Case Examine on the UAE Rashid Rover” by Ahmad Abubakar and coauthors. However because of the computational assets required, it was rejected. Dr. Ajayi as a substitute proposed that my fellow college students and I construct a surveillance drone, because it aligned along with his personal analysis. Dr. Ajayi, a passionate and pushed researcher, was motivated by the potential real-world functions of our venture. His fixed push for progress, whereas typically overwhelming, was rooted in his want to see us produce significant work.
As my staff completed scoping out the preliminary ideas of the drone in CAD designs, we have been able to contribute cash towards implementing our thought. We performed 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 resulting from 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 assemble funds, the value of the parts we would have liked had skyrocketed resulting from a sudden financial disaster and depreciation of the Nigerian naira by 35 % in opposition to the U.S. greenback on the finish of January 2024. This was the genesis of our downside.
Initially, we have been a bunch of 12, however because of the excessive value per particular person, Dr. Ajayi requested one other group, led by Tonbra Suoware, to merge with mine. Tonbra’s staff had been planning a robotic arm project till Dr. Ajayi merged our groups and instructed us to work on the drone, with the goal 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 venture. Many simply contributed their share of the cash.
Tonbra and I drove the venture ahead.
With Dr. Ajayi’s consent, my teammates and I scrapped the “surveillance” a part of the drone venture and raised the cash for growing simply the drone, totaling roughly 350,000 naira (roughly US $249). We needed to lower down prices, which meant straying away from the unique specs of a number of the parts, just like the flight controller, battery, and power-distribution board. In any other case, the associated fee would have been far more insufferable.
We have been set to order the parts from China on 5 February 2024. Sadly, it was an extended vacation in China, we have been instructed, 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 faculty semester ends in March, and having parts arrive in March would imply that the venture 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 pupil at Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo College, says the drone venture taught him the worth of failure.Andrew Esiebo
However what selection did we’ve got? We couldn’t again down from the venture—that may have value us our grade.
We bought 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 pace controllers and the rotors. Nevertheless, the board we initially ordered was not obtainable. Compelled to improvise, we used a Veroboard as a substitute. We linked the battery in a configuration parallel to the pace controllers to make sure that every rotor acquired 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.
All the pieces 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 referred to as Mission Planner. We toiled every day, combing via YouTube movies, on-line boards, Stack Trade, and different assets for steering, all to no avail. We even downgraded the Mission Planner software program a few instances, 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 an extra 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 might management all 4 rotors concurrently, we examined every rotor individually with every transmitter channel. The objective was to assign a single channel on the transmitter that may 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 cruel realities of engineering tasks completed by college students in Nigeria.”
After the ultimate configuration and parts testing, we got down to check our drone in its ultimate kind. However a couple of minutes into the testing, our battery failed. This failure meant the venture had failed, and we have been extremely disenchanted.
Once we lastly submitted our venture to Dr. Ajayi, the deadline had handed. He instructed us to cost the battery so he might 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 obtainable for such issues in Ilé-Ifẹ̀. We instructed 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 staff members acquired course credit score.
Resourcefulness just isn’t an alternative choice to funding
This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the cruel realities of engineering tasks completed 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 vital. I additionally realized that failure, although disheartening, just isn’t an ending however a stepping stone towards development and enchancment.
In my faculty, the calls for on mechanical engineering college students are exceptionally excessive. For example, in a single semester, I used to be typically assigned as much as 4 completely different main tasks, every from a special professor. Alongside the drone venture, I labored on two different substantial tasks for different programs. The truth is {that a} pupil’s means to attain properly in these tasks is commonly closely depending on monetary assets. We’re continuously burdened with the prices of working quite a few tasks. 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 business recruiters, evaluates transcripts from Nigerian engineering graduates, it’s essential to acknowledge {that a} grade could not absolutely replicate a pupil’s capabilities in a given course. They’ll additionally replicate monetary constraints, difficulties in sourcing gear and supplies, and the broader financial atmosphere. 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 training, I plan to use these classes to future tasks, understanding that perseverance and resourcefulness will likely be key to overcoming obstacles. The failed drone venture has additionally given me a practical glimpse into the working world, the place sudden setbacks and price range constraints are frequent. It has ready me to strategy my profession with each a sensible mindset and an understanding that success typically comes from how properly you handle difficulties, not simply how properly you execute plans.
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