The package deal containing the ArduCopter 2.8 board lastly arrived from China, bearing the burden of our anticipation. I keep in mind selecting it up, the cardboard field weathered barely from its journey. As I tore by the layers of tape, it felt like unwrapping a long-awaited reward. 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 undertaking, regarded worn out and previous, with seen scuffs and bent pins. This was simply one in all a cascade of setbacks my workforce would face.
It began once I was assigned a undertaking in machine design at Obafemi Awolowo University (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 pupil getting into my remaining yr of a five-year program. OAU is one in all Nigeria’s oldest and most prestigious universities, identified for its lovely campus and structure. Some individuals I do know seek advice from it because the “Stanford of Nigeria” due to the numerous variety of sensible startups it has spun off. Regardless of its popularity, although, OAU—like each different federally owned establishment in Nigeria—is underfunded and plagued by faculty strikes, resulting in interruptions in lecturers. The dearth of funding means college students should pay for his or her undergraduate tasks themselves, making the success of any undertaking closely depending on the scholars’ monetary capabilities.
Dr. Oluwaseun K. Ajayi, an knowledgeable in computer-aided design (CAD), machine design, and mechanisms, gave us the liberty to decide on our remaining undertaking. I proposed a analysis undertaking based mostly on a paper titled “Advance Simulation Technique for Wheel-Terrain Interactions of Area Rovers: A Case Research on the UAE Rashid Rover” by Ahmad Abubakar and coauthors. However as a result of 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 along with his personal analysis. Dr. Ajayi, a passionate and pushed researcher, was motivated by the potential real-world purposes of our undertaking. His fixed push for progress, whereas typically overwhelming, was rooted in his need to see us produce significant work.
As my workforce completed scoping out the preliminary ideas of the drone in CAD designs, we had been able to contribute cash towards implementing our concept. We carried out a price evaluation and determined to make use of a third-party vendor to assist us order our elements from China. We went this route as a consequence 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 value evaluation and began to assemble funds, the worth of the elements we would have liked had skyrocketed as a consequence of a sudden financial disaster and depreciation of the Nigerian naira by 35 % towards the U.S. greenback on the finish of January 2024. This was the genesis of our drawback.
Initially, we had been a bunch of 12, however as a result of excessive value per particular person, Dr. Ajayi requested one other group, led by Tonbra Suoware, to merge with mine. Tonbra’s workforce had been planning a robotic arm project till Dr. Ajayi merged our groups and instructed us to work on the drone, with the goal of exhibiting it on the National Space Research and Development Agency, 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 undertaking. Many simply contributed their share of the cash.
Tonbra and I drove the undertaking ahead.
With Dr. Ajayi’s consent, my teammates and I scrapped the “surveillance” a part of the drone undertaking 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 number of the elements, just like the flight controller, battery, and power-distribution board. In any other case, the price would have been far more insufferable.
We had been set to order the elements from China on 5 February 2024. Sadly, it was a protracted vacation in China, we had been advised, so we wouldn’t get the elements till March. This led to tense discussions with Dr. Ajayi, regardless of having briefed him concerning the scenario. Why the strain? Our college semester ends in March, and having elements arrive in March would imply that the undertaking could be lengthy overdue by the point we completed it. On the similar time, we college students had a obligatory academic-industrial coaching on the finish of the semester.
Oluwatosin Kolade, a mechanical engineering pupil at Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo College, says the drone undertaking taught him the worth of failure.Andrew Esiebo
However what selection did we have now? We couldn’t again down from the undertaking—that will have value us our grade.
We acquired most of our elements by mid-March, and instantly began engaged on the drone. We had the body 3D-printed at a price of fifty naira (roughly US $0.03) per gram for a 570-gram body, for a complete value of 28,500 naira (roughly US $18).
Subsequent, we turned to constructing the power-distribution system for {the electrical} elements. 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. Nonetheless, the board we initially ordered was not obtainable. Compelled to improvise, we used a Veroboard as an alternative. We linked the battery in a configuration parallel to the velocity controllers to make sure that every rotor obtained equal energy. This improvisation did imply extra prices, as we needed to hire soldering irons, hand drills, sizzling glue, cables, a digital multimeter, and different instruments from an electronics hub in downtown Ilé-Ifẹ̀.
Every part 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 referred to as Mission Planner. We toiled each day, combing by YouTube movies, on-line boards, Stack Trade, and different sources for steerage, all to no avail. We even downgraded the Mission Planner software program a few instances, solely to find that the board we’d waited for thus patiently was out of date. It was really 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 value 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 could 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 elements with out the flight controller. To make sure that the transmitter may management all 4 rotors concurrently, we examined every rotor individually with every transmitter channel. The purpose was to assign a single channel on the transmitter that will 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 have the ability to keep a steady flight.
“This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the tough realities of engineering tasks completed by college students in Nigeria.”
After the ultimate configuration and elements testing, we got down to take a look at our drone in its remaining kind. However a couple of minutes into the testing, our battery failed. This failure meant the undertaking had failed, and we had been extremely disenchanted.
After we lastly submitted our undertaking to Dr. Ajayi, the deadline had handed. He advised us to cost the battery so he may see the drone come alive, though it couldn’t fly. However circumstances didn’t permit us to order a battery charger, and we had been at a loss as to the place to get assist with the flight controller and battery. There are not any tech hubs obtainable for such issues in Ilé-Ifẹ̀. We advised Dr. Ajayi we couldn’t do as he’d requested and defined the scenario to him. He lastly allowed us to submit our work, and all workforce members obtained course credit score.
Resourcefulness will not be an alternative to funding
This expertise taught me invaluable classes about resilience, teamwork, and the tough realities of engineering tasks completed by college students in Nigeria. It confirmed me that whereas technical information is essential, the power to adapt and improvise when confronted with unexpected challenges is simply as essential. I additionally discovered that failure, although disheartening, will not be an ending however a stepping stone towards progress and enchancment.
In my college, 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 distinct professor. Alongside the drone undertaking, I labored on two different substantial tasks for different programs. The truth is {that a} pupil’s means to attain properly in these tasks is commonly closely depending on monetary sources. We’re always burdened with the prices of operating quite a few tasks. The nation’s ongoing financial challenges, together with forex 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 could not absolutely replicate a pupil’s capabilities in a given course. They will additionally replicate monetary constraints, difficulties in sourcing gear and supplies, and the broader financial setting. 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 serious challenges.
As I advance in my training, I plan to use these classes to future tasks, realizing that perseverance and resourcefulness can be key to overcoming obstacles. The failed drone undertaking has additionally given me a practical glimpse into the working world, the place sudden setbacks and funds 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 properly you handle difficulties, not simply how properly you execute plans.
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