Events

Events

ASME Student Chapter visits ballistic range

dunk tankThe VCU student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers organized a tour to a ballistic range outside Richmond, Virginia in October 2005. A video was made of a bullet moving at supersonic speeds and captured in slow motion using a 100,000 frames/second camera. The first bullet is fired toward a foam board with the VCU logo. The second bullet is fired (in frustration) toward a rather difficult textbook on Mechatronics.

See for yourself. Choose a version to download:

Two still photos, also taken during the same tour by the ASME student chapter, are combined in a single image file. At the top of the page is a view of a bullet before and after impact with a Kevlar bullet-proof vest. A penny is shown for scale. Note the features imprinted on the highly deformed bullet's head by the Kevlar fiber. At the bottom of the page is a bullet's exit wound in a book, where the students show their exasperation with the difficult subject matter.

Fun introduction to faculty research

Mechanical engineering students enjoy a pizza party while learning about the broad areas of faculty research. The event was sponsored by the VCU student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Enjoy this home made movie by one of the students.

Robot race during the Mechatronics Course, fall 2005

robot

Mechatronics (EGRM 410 ) is a senior-level course in mechanical engineering that focuses on the fundamentals of design-oriented mechanical, electrical and computer systems integration. Students study electronics, sensors motors and techniques for system integration. Robots are examples of mechatronic systems.

The course instructor, Dr. Kam K. Leang, assigned a class project to give students valuable hands-on experience . Thirteen groups of five to six students were asked to design, build and ultimately race their robots in front of a panel of judges. The object was to design an autonomous robot to race on a path to an obstacle, maneuver around the obstacle (without touching it), then find the path again and follow it to the finish line. The first robot that finishes the course — or is not disqualified — wins.

The excitement of the robot race was captured in the following movie.

Click the links below to see the photos and captions accompanying each photo.

Phase 1: Students designing, building and testing their robots

Phase 2: Competition day

The excitement of the event attracted the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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