After working on them all semester, Camosun College students’ final projects were on display at the Interurban Campus on Dec. 15.
A smart sunscreen-dispensing solution, a modern control system for church bells, a parking app that locates empty parking stalls and a puzzle-solving robot were just a few of the projects showcased by the students.
“We found an old robot that was a capstone eight years ago, and rather than letting it sit and just collect dust, we thought we would reprogram it and do something with it. We decided that we are going to get it to solve a game,” said Sama Osman, in her final term as an electronics and computer engineering student.
Osman, joined by her classmates Sebastian Medina and Juan Ochoa, decided to call the bot the Hanoi Droid. Their robot is named after the game Hanoi Tower, which the Hanoi Droid plays. The objective is to move blocks to build a tower within the least amount of steps possible without breaking any rules. Currently, the robot can do it within seven moves. The Hanoi Droid has an additional feature of face-tracking that detects movement, and the whole robot’s outside body is entirely 3D-printed.
“I’m planning to apply for jobs and gain experience in this field after all the knowledge I’ve gained. I like programming, and we’ve worked with a lot of electrics, so it would be cool if I could get a job to do a similar type of work,” said Osman, who is excited to graduate.
Other projects on display include a driving simulator that uses real-time data to simulate motion experienced by the driver, an electric propulsion solution for marine applications, a glove-driven music creation tool, and two separate robotic projects.
“The idea is during the other semesters, they gain individual skills, and the capstone is an opportunity to put them all together and to learn about what it takes to create a sizable project as a team,” said program chair James van Oort. “Even now after 20 years, it still amazes me how much they can accomplish in just a few semesters. Some of the projects that are here today are revolutionary. It surprises me coming through the door with little-to-no experience, they can gather all these skills and really produce some world-class projects.”
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