University capstone · 2024–2025

Collaborative Autonomous Robot Delivery System

Two modular self-balancing robots engineered as one collaborative delivery platform.

SPADEACECollaborative system in motion

System developed

One platform, built across the full engineering loop.

The project combined mechanical design, custom fabrication, high and low-voltage electrical systems, embedded control, sensor feedback, and extensive physical testing.

Mechanical designElectrical systemsEmbedded controlAssemblyTesting

Project storyline

From architecture to demonstrated motion.

Define and down-select

Break the delivery challenge into buildable systems.

Mobility, vertical motion, storage, latching, control, and power were defined as connected subsystems. Early drivetrain concepts were compared for stability, efficiency, packaging, and serviceability.

Design and refine

Iterate the drivetrain, legs, chassis, and latch.

Gearbox geometry, motor packaging, leg structure, and service access were refined in CAD. Physical constraints drove repeated changes to printed parts, aluminum assemblies, and the modular robot architecture.

Fabricate and assemble

Turn CAD into hardware that survives the bench.

Rapid-prototyped housings, heat-set inserts, modular extrusion, and machined components supported fast iteration. Assembly exposed tolerance and access issues early enough to redesign them.

Rapid fabrication

Mechanical assembly

Power and integrate

Connect protected power, sensing, and actuation.

Separate motor and logic rails supported the Jetson, Teensy controllers, ODrive motor drives, sensors, and CAN network. Protection, monitoring, wiring, and reliable interfaces were central to full-system integration.

CARDS electrical hardware and power testing

48 V power→Protected distribution→Embedded control→Motor actuation

Control and validate

Make the robots measurable, tunable, and stable.

Cascaded balance and velocity control, calibration, filtering, and real-time tuning shaped the final behavior. Electrical load, gearbox response, communications, balance, and disturbance recovery were validated on physical hardware.

Position, velocity, and current traces from electrical testing

±1.5°steady-state balance error

<10 msmeasured CAN latency

Demonstrate

Two robots with distinct collaborative roles.

SPADE demonstrated self-balancing, full mobility, vertical movement, and recovery from the ground. ACE demonstrated self-balancing as the collaborative latching platform.

SPADE · full mobility

ACE · balancing latch platform

SPADE46.2 lb · full mobility

ACE19.4 kg · balance and latch

Balance±1.5° steady-state error

CAN<10 ms measured latency

Team

Yaseen Rehman · Kavi Sreeskandavel · Yosihan Yogeswaran · George Mikhaiel · Aaron Emmanuel