Xiaoyu Xi

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March ’24 Blog

Additionally, I was primarily occupied with our shell design this month and fortunately, I managed to complete all the required steps. During the first two weeks, I accomplished the positioning and size adjustments for the ears, nose, and shape. In the final week prior to the holiday, I finished the preliminary punch design and the positioning to secure the connection between the case and the mouse body. Moreover, my teammates are actively working on additional design elements and code programming for the white line sensor.

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Diversity: in the composition and contribution of the team

The team’s diversity is reflected in the unique abilities, cultural backgrounds, and genders of its members. In a team, it is essential to have talents from different directions so that each task can be completed by individuals with specific skills. This prevents too many people from focusing on the same area and avoids unnecessary competition. For example, when conducting an experiment, one person may be responsible for creating the web page, another for writing the code, someone else for connecting the circuit with actual components, and yet another person for linking lines and creating computer software shells. Only when everyone fulfills their respective roles can the team truly excel because no one possesses all-encompassing knowledge or skills. By showcasing their strengths while relying on others to compensate for their weaknesses, individuals within a team can turn these shortcomings into advantages.

In addition to increased innovation and creativity, improved problem solving, enhanced decision making, greater market insight and customer empathy, improved employee satisfaction and retention, as well as enhanced company reputation and attractiveness, team diversity brings together individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to foster a wider range of thinking and solutions. This ultimately leads to a stronger competitive advantage for the team (Cooks-Campbell A.2023).

Due to diverse cultural backgrounds, we may observe that the way of thinking varies at times. Some individuals tend to adopt a comprehensive approach, starting from an overall perspective and then branching out divergently, demonstrating a pattern of considering the whole before focusing on specific points. Conversely, others prefer to begin with individual elements and logic, gradually building up towards a holistic understanding. These contrasting habits also contribute to generating unique dynamics within the entire group.

Reference

1. Cooks-Campbell A. (2023). What Diversity in the Workplace Means and Why it’s Essential for Teams. https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-diversity-in-the-workplace-means

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Ethical of autonomous vehicles

In its reform of the law on autonomous vehicles, the Law Commission for England and Wales has made several key recommendations to safeguard safety and legal liability. First, the legal definition of autonomous driving has been clarified, and test criteria have been developed to distinguish autonomous driving from driver support functions. Secondly, a two-stage authorization process based on existing international and domestic approval schemes was introduced to ensure the legitimate application of the technology. In addition, an in-use security assurance program covering the entire life cycle has been introduced and the legal roles and responsibilities of manufacturers and service operators have been defined, with a particular focus on misleading marketing and security disclosure. These measures aim to balance the need for safety guidance and technological development.

The ethical dilemmas of automated driving vehicles are mainly divided into two aspects, one is the technical dilemma, and the other is the social dilemma. Among them, the technical difficulties, mainly from the complex road conditions and scene understanding and high-precision positioning are the main technical barriers, but also to solve the complex decision and reasonable planning of action is also indispensable. Complex road conditions require the automatic driving system to perceive the complex traffic environment more accurately, including inherent signal lights and random non-motor vehicles and passers-by, which need to be quickly and accurately identified, so that the car can make more accurate judgments in busy urban streets, complex intersections, and construction areas. High-precision positioning system and accurate map data are the basis for the normal driving of autonomous vehicles on the road surface. However, in real life, the accuracy of positioning technology is still limited by the accuracy, and the changes in the road network are sometimes not so fast to update and upload, and the changes in the road will have a huge impact on and limit the actions of autonomous vehicles. To be able to make decisions like people, and be safer than people, what cannot be ignored is the complex decision-making ability of autonomous vehicles, which requires a huge amount of computing to deal with the situation on the real road, and achieve a series of overtaking, lane changing, and merging into the main road.

On the other hand, of course, is the dilemma of socialization, which is mainly dealt with by user acceptance and some legal issues after accidents. User acceptance and trust is the key to bringing autonomous driving into more people’s lives. More popularization of autonomous vehicles is needed to make it more visible in the public eye, and to prove its safety, efficiency, and humanization with examples, so that more people can choose this vehicle, try, and run in. Legal issues cannot be ignored, even self-driving vehicles will encounter emergency situations, when self-driving vehicles appear in traffic accidents, how to determine the fault party, how to settle claims, these are to ensure safety through the later more year-round legal framework of responsibility issues.

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Sustainability: Technical and academic support in the laboratory and the reuse of miniature mouse component

In this semester’s course, we need to make a miniature mouse robot. In the laboratory, our main experimental basis is the chapter content of our course, and we build our car according to the main task information provided by our main course teacher. We would like to thank our teachers for their help in the process of our construction, because there are a lot of problems when we modify our code. Technically, the biggest cost is the consumption of components, which may be replaced multiple times, so we need to take into account the sustainability of the laboratory.

Since most of our micro-mice will the destination of the robot can be reused, just like the recycled parts of a car after scrapping. For example, industrial robots have an average lifespan of only 6-7 years due to hardware and software upgrades, as well as different working and maintenance conditions (D.Karastoyanov & S. Karastanev, 2018). While older robots cannot be reused for automated production, we now have parts that can be recycled for the next group of students.

From the traces left by our motor and circular base plate usage, it is evident that these two parts must be recycled. The purpose of recycling is not only to save material costs in the laboratory but also to reduce environmental burden caused by processing these parts later. Additionally, our micromouse battery can also be recycled and recharged to maintain its lifespan and support classroom operations. There are complete parts that can be directly removed from the micromouse and used again for future students, while some components cannot be fully disassembled. For instance, many wires like touchbars can be retained for convenience in subsequent years.

Of course, this spirit of reuse should extend beyond our current work; we should aim not only to reuse but also recycle materials after processing them further. Mechanical recycling plays a crucial role in driving a circular economy (Zoe O.G.Schyns & Michael P.Shaver，2020). As demand for plastics continues to rise so does waste generation; therefore, it is important to prevent situations where harmful gases are released during polymer material incineration processes. Fortunately, current reprocessing technologies have been significantly improved through methods such as degassing filtration techniques or enhancing screening and reshaping capabilities of polymer melts – challenges which we can reference when overcoming similar issues in the future.

Reference

1. D. Karastoyanov, S. Karastanev, Reuse of Industrial Robots, IFAC-PapersOnLine, Volume 51, Issue 30, 2018, Pages 44-47, ISSN 2405-8963, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.11.243.
2. Zoé O. G. Schyns & Michael P. Shaver, Mechanical Recycling of Packaging Plastics: A Review，WILEY Online Library，Macromolecular Rapid Communications，Volume 42, Issue 3 ，30 September 2020，https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202000415

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Explore the ethical principles of Engineers

As a student member of IET, it is imperative for me to uphold honesty and integrity in my academic pursuits. In my current coursework, I must refrain from engaging in any conduct that infringes upon the research findings of others. It is essential that I independently complete tasks or seek assistance from tutors whenever necessary. Furthermore, in my present studies and experiments, even when dealing with minor projects and details, it is crucial to adopt a rigorous approach towards experimental data to obtain more accurate results.

As a future professional engineer, it is incumbent upon me to adhere to moral principles and maintain high standards of professional ethics. This entails practicing honesty, fairness, impartiality, transparency while also demonstrating respect for life, protecting the environment, abiding by the law, and safeguarding public interests when selecting research materials. Additionally, conducting experiments with meticulousness and approaching problems from a professional standpoint are vital qualities that should be cultivated. Lastly, as both a team leader and member alike; leadership skills along with effective communication abilities are indispensable attributes required for objective consideration (RAE/EC 2017).

Professional behavior standards encompass an area we must duly consider as members of IET since strict regulations exist within this domain which serve to protect the rights of employer’s organizations as well as members (IET 2019). Of course, the requirements for a professional engineer must not be limited to these, and the Code of Ethics for engineers written by NSPE also mentions that we need to implement our professional obligations, among which we should always strive to serve the public interest, which makes me the most profound, advocating that we should start from some small things around the community to benefit the society (NSPE,2019). I have chosen this source for explanation purposes due to its official certification. Additionally, it provides information that has not been mentioned in the other two sources, which serves as a valuable alert and learning opportunity for me. Moreover, it enables me to enhance my understanding of professional ethics.

Reference

1. IET. (2019). Rules of Conduct. https://www.theiet.org/about/governance/rules-of-conduct/
2. NSPE. (2019). NSPE Code of Ethic for Engineers. https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics
3. RAE. & EC. (2017). Statement of Ethical Principles. https://www.engc.org.uk/standards-guidance/guidance/statement-of-ethical-principles/

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February ’24 Blog

This month is the beginning of the second half of our semester, so we are still aiming to perfect our miniature mouse. Currently under way are code testing of the car, white line sensor, and CAD drawing. I was mainly responsible for The CAD part. Our team finally discussed and decided to build the shape of the car with the head of Homer Jay Simpson, the father of The Simpsons, as the prototype. The software I use is SOLIDWORKS, which is my first time to use this software, and I am very unfamiliar with it. Recently, I have completed the general construction of the head shape, and I am positioning and refining the eyes and nose. I hope to learn to operate this software more skillfully and complete more parts this month.

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January ’24 Blog

This month is our exam month. We should be able to pass it smoothly. At the same time, we also started to design the content that needs to be completed in the second half of the semester, including shell design, white line design, additional content design and debugging of the original code of our car. I am responsible for the design of the shell, and the additional design is tentatively the design of the sound and the eye. I hope our group can finish all the content successfully in this semester.

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December ’15 Blog

Since completing the PCB design last month, I have been enhancing the system and verifying the layout this month. Some issues were also identified during re-inspection, which I promptly rectified. Initially designing only on the top half of the board allowed for extensive customization and optimization of wiring. Currently, we are in discussions regarding incorporating additional sensors and other new devices into the micro mouse group. I hope our deliberations can materialize, enabling us to complete future breadboard route designs accordingly. I am eagerly anticipating our finalized products.

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November ’23 Blog

This month, the design of the miniature mouse remains on track. In early November, my focus shifted to the hardware setup of the car, and I completed the initial construction within the first week. Meanwhile, my teammates conducted tests on the components already arranged on the breadboard. During the second week, our main task was to commence PCB layout, for which I assumed primary responsibility. The most challenging aspect in this phase involved achieving proper wiring while accommodating all electrical components. It often required deleting numerous completed parts and making repeated attempts to establish connections across lines. Fortunately, we now have a solid foundation for wiring that requires minor adjustments to enhance aesthetics.

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October ’23 Blog

Since the middle of this month, we have been working on a miniature mouse project. Grouped by each person’s retrieval of their abilities, I am now a member of Team Hotel. Firstly, the segments of electronic hardware, software, mechanical hardware, sensors, documentation, and web design were assigned through a skills matrix. I was mainly responsible for the documentation section and the mechanical hardware, but there were also many other sections that we had to work on together as a group, which was a good challenge for me as an international student, as there were technical skills to overcome as well as language barriers to break down. Now our group has started to complete some tasks, including website design, electronic hardware and mechanical hardware, and I am now completing the mechanical hardware part, and in the process of installing the miniature mouse, I found that not only do I need to find some parts myself, but also some small parts are very easy to be put in the wrong way or in the wrong position and need to be reworked. All in all, it’s a very good start and I’m looking forward to the next month when we can move forward with the miniature mouse project.

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