Complex Aerospace Systems Engineering Education - Capstone Design Lessons Learned from Hands-On Drone Projects

摘要

Today's world of increasingly complex, cyber-physical systems and products is a challenge for Capstone Design educators trying to prepare the next generation of engineers for complex multi-discipline product design environments. ABET describes engineering design as "a decision making process in which basic science, mathematics and engineering sciences are applied ... to meet stated needs". ABET outcomes include an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams which in academia is assumed to mean multi-academic department which can become organizationally complex. However, multi-disciplinary does not have to be multi-department. In fact most engineering departments in academia are collections of sub-disciplines that can be combined to simulate a complex, multi-discipline product environment without the administrative complexity of a multi-department project. An Aerospace example is a semi-autonomous unmanned air systems or drones that integrate systems, aeronautical, mechanical and electrical engineering with manufacturing, concepts of operations, test, logistics and human operators. At the University of Texas at Austin (UT), we have been using drones to teach undergraduate aerospace students about design, development and test of complex systems since 2012. This paper (1) analyzes design education and capstone requirements, (2) evaluates the benefits of various types of multi-discipline drone projects and (3) provides lessons learned, all of which are applicable to both single and multiple department capstone concepts.