Group Design Project in Control Engineering: Adapting to COVID-19 Pandemic

Dmitry I Ignatyev; Hyo-Sang Shin; Argyrios Zolotas; Antonios Tsourdos

doi:10.1016/j.ifacol.2021.11.011

Group Design Project in Control Engineering: Adapting to COVID-19 Pandemic

IFAC Pap OnLine. 2021;54(12):68-73. doi: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2021.11.011. Epub 2021 Nov 18.

Authors

Dmitry I Ignatyev¹, Hyo-Sang Shin¹, Argyrios Zolotas¹, Antonios Tsourdos¹

Affiliation

¹ School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 OAL, UK.

Abstract

Group Design Project (GDP) is a common education strategy in engineering. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GDP cannot be fulfilled in a typical lab condition. The paper describes an example of delivering intensive hands-on, group project-based engineering course Autonomous Vehicle Dynamics and Control at Cranfield University. The project was designed to be implemented using modern simulation tools. As a result, students have not only obtained a better understanding of the engineering areas but also learned the usage of essential engineering and IT tools. The students obtained skillsets useful in modern engineering applications, where a simulation environment could improve the quality of the system before deployment and reduce a development cost.

Keywords: COVID-19; Group Design Project; Swarm of Drones; Unmanned Aerial Systems.