Senior Capstone

JEM 484/485 - SENIOR DESIGN CAPSTONE

Overarching Project: IEEE SoutheastCon 2026 Hardware Competition

As part of the senior capstone sequence for the UNC Asheville–NC State Joint Mechatronics Engineering Program, our team is designing and building an autonomous robotic system to compete in the IEEE SoutheastCon 2026 Hardware Competition. Beyond the technical design work, the project emphasizes systems engineering practices such as requirement decomposition, subsystem interface definition, trade studies, and verification planning.

The goal is not only to build a functioning robot, but to demonstrate a complete engineering design process from concept development through testing and competition deployment. The project spans two semesters (JEM 484-485) and follows a structured engineering design process similar to real-world aerospace and robotics programs, including formal design reviews such as the System Requirements Review (SRR), System Definitions Review (SDR), and Preliminary Design Review (PDR).

SRR v2 9_6_25.pdf

SDR 10_28_25.docx.pdf

PDR.docx.pdf

The competition challenges teams to design a robot capable of navigating a circular arena and completing a series of tasks involving object identification, manipulation, and placement within a limited time window. To accomplish this, our system integrates multiple subsystems including autonomous navigation, sensing and identification, and several mechanical manipulation mechanisms.

IEEE 2026 Animation V2.mp4

Video Credit: Khuong Nguyen

JEM 484 - Red Team Presentation

Presentation Design Credit: Kai Green

My primary responsibility was the development of mechanical manipulation subsystems, including the Astro-Duck retrieval mechanism and a keypad/button interaction system. These designs incorporate linear extension mechanisms, compliant gripping systems, and precision actuation to reliably interact with competition elements at a distance.

Compound Camshaft Button Actuator

I designed a compound camshaft mechanism to mechanically coordinate several sequential manipulator actions using a single drive motor. The system consists of multiple cam profiles mounted along a shared shaft, each responsible for actuating a different subsystem during specific portions of the rotation cycle. Spring-loaded plungers act as followers that remain adhered to the cam lobes and retract into the housing when not engaged. The compact assembly was designed with a minimal footprint, integrating tightly into the robot chassis.

The camshaft effectively acts as a mechanical state machine, translating continuous rotation into a timed series of mechanical events such as arm deployment, button pressing, and mechanism resets.

Slotted Dowel Pins

Plungers on Lobe Body

Plungers in Housing

Linear Guides for Plungers

Top View Dynamixel and N20 Mount

My custom motor mount serves multiple roles by supporting the camshaft drive motor while also mounting the motor for the wheels, combining structural support and drivetrain integration into a single multipurpose component.

Bottom View Dynamixel and N20 Mount

Belt-Driven Linear Extender

I designed a belt-driven linear extension mechanism using a GT3 belt and pulley system to achieve a telescoping, reliable reach into the competition crater. The belt is anchored at two fixed points and routed through pulleys along the extender, translating motor rotation into smooth linear motion. At the end of the extender, two compliant wheel intakes mounted at opposing 15° angles guide and capture the Astro-Duck game pieces. The system's 500 mm reach compacts into 180 mm, and its linear translation is driven by just one 12V N20 gearmotor. Both compliant wheels are driven by 3V N20 gearmotors, and require an insignificant amount of current to perform their task.