University of Adelaide Undergraduates Design, Build, and Control an Electric Diwheel Using Model-Based Design

In their final year, honors undergraduates at the University of Adelaide are encouraged to complete a year-long capstone course in which they apply the skills and knowledge acquired in their coursework to a practical, hands-on project. Ideas for the capstone projects come from industry, faculty, or the students themselves. For aerospace and mechanical engineering students, the projects often require the design and implementation of real-time control systems and real hardware systems—past projects have included self-balancing scooters, unicycles, and robots, as well as automated reversing systems for double tractor-trailers. Completed projects are demonstrated at an annual exhibition open to the public. One project that repeatedly garners attention from the media and from other schools is EDWARD, or Electric DiWheel with Active Rotation Damping (Figure 1). Powered by on-board batteries, the diwheel’s two electric motors are capable of propelling the vehicle at speeds of up to 40 kph.