The package deal containing the ArduCopter 2.8 board lastly arrived from China, bearing the burden of our anticipation. I bear in mind choosing it up, the cardboard field weathered barely from its journey. As I tore by way of 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 previous, with seen scuffs and bent pins. This was simply one among a cascade of setbacks my group would face.
It began after I was assigned a mission in machine design at Obafemi Awolowo College (OAU), positioned within the coronary heart of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an historic Yoruba metropolis in Osun State, in southwest Nigeria, the place I’m a mechanical engineering scholar coming into my closing yr of a five-year program. OAU is one among Nigeria’s oldest and most prestigious universities, recognized for its stunning campus and structure. Some folks I do know discuss with it because the “Stanford of Nigeria” due to the numerous variety of good startups it has spun off. Regardless of its repute, although, OAU—like each different federally owned establishment in Nigeria—is underfunded and stricken by college strikes, resulting in interruptions in lecturers. The shortage of funding means college students should pay for his or her undergraduate tasks themselves, making the success of any mission closely depending on the scholars’ monetary capabilities.
Dr. Oluwaseun Ok. Ajayi, an knowledgeable in computer-aided design (CAD), machine design, and mechanisms, gave us the liberty to decide on our closing mission. I proposed a analysis mission 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 sources required, it was rejected. Dr. Ajayi as an alternative 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 functions of our mission. His fixed push for progress, whereas typically overwhelming, was rooted in his need to see us produce significant work.
As my group completed scoping out the preliminary ideas of the drone in CAD designs, we have been able to contribute cash towards implementing our thought. We carried out a value evaluation and determined to make use of a third-party vendor to assist us order our parts from China. We went this route as a result of transport 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 price evaluation and began to assemble funds, the worth of the parts we would have liked had skyrocketed as a result of a sudden financial disaster and depreciation of the Nigerian naira by 35 p.c towards 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 because of the excessive price per individual, Dr. Ajayi requested one other group, led by Tonbra Suoware, to merge with mine. Tonbra’s group had been planning a robotic arm mission till Dr. Ajayi merged our groups and instructed us to work on the drone, with the goal of exhibiting it on the Nationwide House Analysis and Improvement Company, 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 minimize down prices, which meant straying away from the unique specs of a few 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 informed, 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 state of affairs. Why the strain? Our college semester ends in March, and having parts arrive in March would imply that the mission can be lengthy overdue by the point we completed it. On the identical time, we college students had a obligatory academic-industrial coaching on the finish of the semester.
Oluwatosin Kolade, a mechanical engineering scholar at Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo College, says the drone mission taught him the worth of failure.Andrew Esiebo
However what alternative did we now have? We couldn’t again down from the mission—that may have price us our grade.
We obtained most of our parts 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} parts. 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. Nevertheless, the board we initially ordered was not accessible. Compelled to improvise, we used a Veroboard as an alternative. We related the battery in a configuration parallel to the velocity controllers to make sure that every rotor acquired equal energy. This improvisation did imply extra 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.
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 known as Mission Planner. We toiled every day, combing by way of YouTube movies, on-line boards, Stack Change, and different sources for steering, 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 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 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 can 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 aim 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 keep a steady flight.
“This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the cruel realities of engineering tasks achieved by college students in Nigeria.”
After the ultimate configuration and parts testing, we got down to check our drone in its closing type. However a couple of minutes into the testing, our battery failed. This failure meant the mission had failed, and we have been extremely dissatisfied.
After we lastly submitted our mission to Dr. Ajayi, the deadline had handed. He informed us to cost the battery so he might see the drone come alive, although 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 accessible for such issues in Ilé-Ifẹ̀. We informed Dr. Ajayi we couldn’t do as he’d requested and defined the state of affairs to him. He lastly allowed us to submit our work, and all group members acquired course credit score.
Resourcefulness just isn’t an alternative to funding
This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the cruel realities of engineering tasks achieved 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 essential. I additionally discovered that failure, although disheartening, just isn’t an ending however a stepping stone towards progress and enchancment.
In my faculty, the calls for on mechanical engineering college students are exceptionally excessive. As an 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 mission, I labored on two different substantial tasks for different programs. The fact is {that a} scholar’s means to attain effectively in these tasks is commonly closely depending on monetary sources. We’re always burdened with the prices of working quite a few tasks. The nation’s ongoing financial challenges, together with foreign money 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 might not totally replicate a scholar’s capabilities in a given course. They’ll additionally replicate monetary constraints, difficulties in sourcing gear and supplies, and the broader financial surroundings. 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, realizing that perseverance and resourcefulness will probably be key to overcoming obstacles. The failed drone mission has additionally given me a practical glimpse into the working world, the place sudden setbacks and finances 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 effectively you handle difficulties, not simply how effectively you execute plans.
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