Ground Based Laser Transmitter to Target In-flight Drones (GiBLiT)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQaNPfgkB0]
This video features the Still Compiling Team showing off their Senior Design project at the 2024 Engineering Expo. The drone is not controlled via a (boring) RF antenna, but via an optical link between a photodiode array on the drone and a laser mounted on a swiveling ground station. The team won the ECEE Most Ambitious Project Award in recognition of the fact that the road to success required a variety of very different subsystems and technologies (Computer Vision, Aiming System, Laser Transmitter, Photodiode Receiver, and Flight Controller) to work in unison. The team also won the unofficial "Most Solutions Being Investigated in Parallel Award", which is a testament to the sheer amount of trial and error that went into getting all this to work.
Special Thanks to Eric Bogatin and , who guided the team throughtout the year and helped the project stay on track. The ECEE Senior Design experience would not be the same without Eric's expert leadership and Gabe's unwavering support.