Haridas Chandran
Snapshot
Construction of Biodigester an Alternate Inexpensive Energy Source
Students in the STEAM class will focus on designing and constructing a home built, inexpensive and portable Biodigester. The main purpose of this project is to utilize waste food items from different restaurants and convert them into a biogas that can be used as fuel for gas burners. To achieve this students will be building two different parts of the biodigester namely digester tank and gas holder tank. Students will research on the type of food that can be used to obtain the maximum fuel. They will undertake a preliminary investigation on the size of the container and amount of the food that will generate fuel to use it for a long time interval. Collection of data will involve exact ratio of the mixture that produce maximum amount of methane gas, method of storing the generated gas, storage of waste material that can be used as an fertilizer for plants. Completion of this project will help solve problems in the community like generating alternate usable heat energy from wasted food that can be reused by the same agencies namely restaurants who are wasting their food. The biodigesters can be also used at homes to avoid wastage of food items.
VEX Robotics A Tool To Engage Students in STEAM Curriculum
Students in the STEAM classes will focus on designing and constructing a VEX robot that can be used performing different tasks. The main objective of this project is to engage students in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics in a fun manner and provide hands on opportunity to explore and experience for themselves. This engagement will naturally encourages team work, problem solving skills and leadership role in this young age. Students will be involved in using techniques learned in arts discipline to design a model of the robot that will be used for this project. During each stage of building a unit they will check the operations of the functions by connecting the brain of the robot and writing codes. In doing this they will also learn the concepts in computer engineering field. Finally they will connect the controller to the robot and operate the robot through the controller. Using the constructed robot students will collect the data regarding the speed of the robot by measuring the distance and time taken for a specific time period. They will also collect data on the gear ratio required for specific actions. Students will build codes to perform various operations. Completion of this project will allow students to go for VEX robotic competition within the state or out of state. This robot can also be used by the JROTC group to showcase their talent at the Army USA skills competition. Experience learnt from designing, construction and coding by STEAM students can help JROTC students to perform well in their competition.
Building 3D objects using Photogrammetry and Drones
Students in the STEAM class will focus on learning to fly the drone at different altitudes and angles to capture the images of the object/scene to be modeled using 3D printer available in our laboratory. During this process students will also focus on getting information of the objects namely the height, perimeter and the GPS coordinate system to fly the drone. Depending on the drone system they use, students will try to map the drone to fly independently. They will also use the camera system to take pictures of the object/scene. The pictures taken will be stored on a microchip. Depending on the drone students will learn to take pictures remotely or using the flight controller. The pictures that was captured by the drone will be processed to create 3D images by using photogrammetry software. Students will learn the techniques to convert the pixels to images. The program will also help to identify some of the physical properties namely, the height, surface area and the contour of the object/scenes captured by the drone camera. Students involved in this project, will collect data at each stage of their project. They will also research on the type of object/scenes to photograph that are of historical importance and to preserve them by creating 3D models.