2018 DMT exhibition: cars, robots, drones and smart baby cribs

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Dr Bamber Blackman tries out the remote for a student project, an all-terrain motorboard vehicle

Yesterday, third year Mechanical Engineering students exhibited their Design, Make and Test projects in the College Main Entrance.

Several teams worked for Imperial Racing Green on improving the racing cars for the Formula Student and Shell EcoMarathon competitions, as well as the ZEPHiR electric motorbike. One group invited visitors to test the strength of the EV3 chassis materials with their own weight:

Student balancing on EV3 chassis material

Other types of vehicles were also on display, such as underwater drones and an all-terrain motorboard. Robots and robotic arm prototypes were also exhibited, including surgical robots, a bionic hand designed specifically for interacting with touchscreens, and a robotic arm for manipulating objects in outer space.

Fiona Boyce

Sustainability and environmental issues were also a topic of interest, with teams tackling pollution on the London Underground, commuting with a bicycle or growing an indoor garden.

Some of the groups took on projects related to sports and outdoors activities, from a roller-skating aid to a portable canoe slide which allows entry into the watercourse from steep angles.

The projects also proved that engineers are able to think of solutions for a wide range of problems, such as soothing babies to sleep through the motion of a smart cradle or a vibrating pram. 

Inspiring the younger generations: student Ben Hambrook explains his project on ultrasonics to a five year old visitor
Inspiring the younger generations: student Ben Hambrook explains his team's project on ultrasonic mapping to a five year old visitor

More photos of the exhibition can be found on the Imperial Mech Eng Flickr account. 

Reporter

Nadia Barbu

Nadia Barbu
Department of Mechanical Engineering