Papers by saeedeh ziaeefard
—This letter presents the design and potential impact of the developed Research Oriented Underwat... more —This letter presents the design and potential impact of the developed Research Oriented Underwater Glider for Hands-on Investigative Engineering (ROUGHIE). The ROUGHIE is an open-source, highly-maneuverable, and low-cost vehicle that enables rapid development and testing of new hardware and software. ROUGHIE is an internally actuated glider capable of performing steady sawtooth glides in shallow water down to 3 meters, tight turns with a minimum radius of 3 meters, and a minimum endurance of 60 hours. The novelty of the work is twofold: 1) a rail-based design to facilitate modularity and ease of assembly and 2) an effective internal rotary mass mechanism to increase maneuverability and perform tight turns. The ROUGHIE design strategically uses 3D printed plastic parts in low stress situations which allows extreme design flexibility and enables tightly packed modules that can be easily customized.
This paper aims to provide a classroom activity to explore engineering design inspired by underwa... more This paper aims to provide a classroom activity to explore engineering design inspired by underwater robots that are used for ocean exploration. The activity can be easily adopted in middle school classrooms by teachers with no background in engineering and robotics who seek innovative ways to connect disciplinary core ideas and standards to the concepts they need to teach. These types of activities stimulate analytical thinking and integrative design skills in students and encourage social interactions with team partners. B A C KG R O U N D Underwater robotics is an emerging science and is evolving rapidly. 71% of earth's surface is covered with water and oceans occupy 96.5% of this water [5]. To explore this enormous and largely unknown area, scientist developed various autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Underwater gliders (UGs) are a special form of AUVs that propel themselves in a saw-tooth like pattern through water by changing buoyancy. The forward motion is induced by hydrodynamic forces on the wing. UGs traverse in water with lower speed. Scientists use this drawback to their advantage and collect sensory data while the UGs travel underwater on long mission with a single battery life. Figure 1 depicts the glider saw-tooth pattern. FIGURE 1: UNDERWATER GLIDER (UG) SAW-TOOTH PATTERN
This paper presents a novel roll mechanism and an efficient control strategy for the roll and pi... more This paper presents a novel roll mechanism and an efficient control strategy for the roll and pitch of internally actuated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) including most underwater gliders (UGs). The proposed design and approach increases maneuverability which is essential for operating in shallow water or crowded harbors. The design is implemented on Michigan Tech's research UG ROUGHIE (Research Oriented Underwater Glider for Hands-on Investigative Engineering) and the performance is validated. The experimental results demonstrate that ROUGHIE is capable of tight turn radii down to approximately twice the vehicle length in shallow water.
This paper introduces two co-robotic pedagogical platforms. The goal is to study the effect of me... more This paper introduces two co-robotic pedagogical platforms. The goal is to study the effect of meaningful learning contexts and hands-on activities, facilitated through the use of co-robotic platforms, in broadening and sustaining student engagement in STEM. The paper presents a week-long residential STEM learning curriculum designed and implemented to introduce students to hands-on engineering. The week-long program has been offered for middle school level students, and its effectiveness has been studied. Pre and post surveys have been conducted to study the impact of the experience in increasing students' interest in robotics and engineering. The results of this study show that co-robotic activities increased students' awareness about the role of engineering in protecting the environment and improving human life.
This paper presents innovative strategies to teach
control and robotic concepts. These strategies... more This paper presents innovative strategies to teach
control and robotic concepts. These strategies include: 1) a real
world focus on social/environmental contexts that are meaningful
and “make a difference”; 2) continuous design potential and
engagement through use of a platform that integrates design
with engineering; 3) mission-based versus application-based approaches,
where meaningful application justifies the process; and
4) hands-on, inquiry-based problem-solving. For this purpose a
Glider for Underwater Problem-solving and Promotion of Interest
in Engineering or “GUPPIE” platform and its simulator were
utilized. GUPPIE is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, with
readily available lightweight and durable components. It is also
modular to accommodate a variety of learning activities. This
paper describes how GUPPIE and its interdisciplinary nature was
used as a pedagogical platform for teaching core control concepts
for different age groups. The activities are designed to attract
the interest of students as early as middle school and sustain
their interest through college. The game changing aspect of this
approach is scaffolded learning and the fact that the students
will work with the same platform while progressing through the
concepts
An underwater glider named ROUGHIE (Research Oriented Underwater Glider for Hands-on Investigativ... more An underwater glider named ROUGHIE (Research Oriented Underwater Glider for Hands-on Investigative Engineering) is designed and manufactured to provide a test platform and framework for experimental underwater automation. This paper presents an efficient multi-level motion controller that can be used to enhance underwater glider control systems or easily modified for additional sensing, computing, or other requirements for advanced automation design testing. The ultimate goal is to have a fleet of modular and inexpensive test platforms for addressing the issues that currently limit the use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Producing a low-cost vehicle with maneuvering capabilities and a straightforward expansion path will permit easy experimentation and testing of different approaches to improve underwater automation.
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Papers by saeedeh ziaeefard
control and robotic concepts. These strategies include: 1) a real
world focus on social/environmental contexts that are meaningful
and “make a difference”; 2) continuous design potential and
engagement through use of a platform that integrates design
with engineering; 3) mission-based versus application-based approaches,
where meaningful application justifies the process; and
4) hands-on, inquiry-based problem-solving. For this purpose a
Glider for Underwater Problem-solving and Promotion of Interest
in Engineering or “GUPPIE” platform and its simulator were
utilized. GUPPIE is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, with
readily available lightweight and durable components. It is also
modular to accommodate a variety of learning activities. This
paper describes how GUPPIE and its interdisciplinary nature was
used as a pedagogical platform for teaching core control concepts
for different age groups. The activities are designed to attract
the interest of students as early as middle school and sustain
their interest through college. The game changing aspect of this
approach is scaffolded learning and the fact that the students
will work with the same platform while progressing through the
concepts
control and robotic concepts. These strategies include: 1) a real
world focus on social/environmental contexts that are meaningful
and “make a difference”; 2) continuous design potential and
engagement through use of a platform that integrates design
with engineering; 3) mission-based versus application-based approaches,
where meaningful application justifies the process; and
4) hands-on, inquiry-based problem-solving. For this purpose a
Glider for Underwater Problem-solving and Promotion of Interest
in Engineering or “GUPPIE” platform and its simulator were
utilized. GUPPIE is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, with
readily available lightweight and durable components. It is also
modular to accommodate a variety of learning activities. This
paper describes how GUPPIE and its interdisciplinary nature was
used as a pedagogical platform for teaching core control concepts
for different age groups. The activities are designed to attract
the interest of students as early as middle school and sustain
their interest through college. The game changing aspect of this
approach is scaffolded learning and the fact that the students
will work with the same platform while progressing through the
concepts