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 present. 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 The board, which was to be the cornerstone of our mission, seemed worn out and outdated, with seen scuffs and bent pins. This was simply one among a cascade of setbacks my workforce would face.
It began once I was assigned a mission 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 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 seek advice from it because the “Stanford of Nigeria” due to the numerous variety of sensible startups it has spun off. Regardless of its repute, although, OAU—like each different federally owned establishment in Nigeria—is underfunded and plagued by faculty strikes, resulting in interruptions in teachers. The shortage of funding means college students should pay for his or her undergraduate initiatives themselves, making the success of any mission 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 last mission. I proposed a analysis mission primarily based 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 as a result of computational sources required, it was rejected. Dr. Ajayi as a substitute 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 purposes of our mission. His fixed push for progress, whereas typically overwhelming, was rooted in his need 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 value evaluation and determined to make use of a third-party vendor to assist us order our elements from China. We went this route on account of delivery and customs points we’d beforehand skilled. Taking the third-party route was supposed to unravel the issue. Little did we suspect what was coming.
By the point we finalized our price evaluation and began to assemble funds, the worth of the elements we would have liked had skyrocketed on account of 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 drawback.
Initially, we have been a gaggle of 12, however as a result of excessive price per particular person, 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 mission. Many simply contributed their share of the cash.
Tonbra and I drove the mission ahead.
With Dr. Ajayi’s consent, my teammates and I scrapped the “surveillance” a part of the drone mission 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 few of the elements, 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 elements from China on 5 February 2024. Sadly, it was a protracted vacation in China, we have been instructed, so we wouldn’t get the elements till March. This led to tense discussions with Dr. Ajayi, regardless of having briefed him concerning the scenario. Why the stress? Our college semester ends in March, and having elements arrive in March would imply that the mission 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 mission taught him the worth of failure.Andrew Esiebo
However what alternative did we have now? We couldn’t again down from the mission—that may have price us our grade.
We obtained most of our elements by mid-March, and instantly began engaged on the drone. We had the body 3D-printed at a value of fifty naira (roughly US $0.03) per gram for a 570-gram body, for a complete price of 28,500 naira (roughly US $18).
Subsequent, we turned to constructing the power-distribution system for {the electrical} elements. 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 obtainable. Pressured to improvise, we used a Veroboard as a substitute. We linked the battery in a configuration parallel to the velocity controllers to make sure that every rotor acquired equal energy. This improvisation did imply further prices, as we needed to lease 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 every day, combing by YouTube movies, on-line boards, Stack Change, and different sources for steerage, 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 thus patiently was out of date. It was really 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 price 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 elements 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 purpose 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 of preserve a steady flight.
“This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the tough realities of engineering initiatives performed by college students in Nigeria.”
After the ultimate configuration and elements 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 mission had failed, and we have been extremely disenchanted.
Once we lastly submitted our mission to Dr. Ajayi, the deadline had handed. He instructed 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 are not 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 workforce members acquired course credit score.
Resourcefulness isn’t an alternative to funding
This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the tough realities of engineering initiatives performed by college students in Nigeria. It confirmed me that whereas technical data is essential, the power to adapt and improvise when confronted with unexpected challenges is simply as vital. I additionally discovered that failure, although disheartening, 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 totally different main initiatives, every from a unique professor. Alongside the drone mission, I labored on two different substantial initiatives for different programs. The truth is {that a} pupil’s capability to attain properly in these initiatives is commonly closely depending on monetary sources. We’re consistently 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 totally 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 setting. 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 mission has additionally given me a practical glimpse into the working world, the place surprising setbacks and funds constraints are widespread. 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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