Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
31 Mobile eVTOL Handling and Docking Platform
 Carol Xu
Haowen Chen
Shu Yang
Yuchen Zhang
 design_document1.pdf
final_paper2.pdf
 Meng Zhang
#Problem

Current quad-rotor eVTOL aircraft require a ground handling method that can safely support lifting, short-distance transfer, and accurate docking during parking, storage, and maintenance operations. Manual handling or improvised support equipment can lead to poor positioning accuracy, unstable lowering, inefficient turnaround, and increased risk of damage to the aircraft structure during ground operations. For repeated use in confined service environments, a dedicated ground support platform is needed to move the aircraft smoothly from its parking stand to a designated storage bay or maintenance station and place it in a stable, controlled, and repeatable manner.

#Solution Overview

The eVTOL Ground Support Lift-and-Transfer System is a ground support platform designed for quad-rotor eVTOL aircraft to enable lifting, short-distance transfer, and precise placement during ground operations. The system lifts the aircraft from its parking position using a motor-driven lifting mechanism and securely supports it during handling. A wheeled mobile platform allows the aircraft to be smoothly transported to a designated storage bay or maintenance station. Alignment guides and positioning stops assist with accurate docking, ensuring stable and repeatable placement. An Arduino-based control system coordinates lifting, movement, and safety monitoring to achieve controlled, reliable, and safe ground handling of the eVTOL aircraft.

#Solution Components

##Lifting Subsystem

-Load-bearing support structure for holding the eVTOL during handling
-Motor-driven lifting mechanism for controlled raising and lowering
-Contact interface that securely engages the aircraft landing structure
-Travel limit detection to prevent overextension during vertical motion
-Arduino-based control logic for stable lift and lower operation

##Mobility Subsystem

-Wheel and drive assembly for smooth movement between locations
-Braking or locking feature to keep the platform stationary during lifting and docking
-Low-speed motion control for safe operation in confined ground environments

##Docking and Positioning Subsystem

-Alignment guides for directing the eVTOL into the target position
-Positioning stops for repeatable final placement
-Sensors for detecting docking status and placement alignment
-Feedback-based control sequence for precise and stable final positioning

##Central Control and Safety Subsystem

-Arduino microcontroller for coordinating lifting, transfer, and docking actions
-Sensor input processing for position, motion, and limit monitoring
-Emergency stop and motion interlock logic for operational safety

#Criteria of Success

The system will be considered successful if it can safely lift a quad-rotor eVTOL aircraft from its parking position, transport it over a short ground distance, and accurately place it at a designated storage or maintenance location. The lifting mechanism must provide stable vertical motion without structural instability, while the mobility platform must enable smooth and controlled movement. The docking system should allow repeatable and precise positioning of the aircraft. In addition, the control system must reliably coordinate lifting, movement, and safety functions, including limit detection and emergency stop capability, ensuring safe and stable operation throughout the handling process.

Seat U: Sensing System for Real-time Library Seat Occupation Detection

Jiayuan Huang, Hangzheng Lin, Jiaqi Lou, Hanyin Shao

Featured Project

# Problem

During the exam week, it is very difficult to find a seat in the library. Sometimes students cannot find a satisfying seat even if they walk through the library all around. Some students complain about unknown traffic in the library. For more convenient library seats seeking, students would like to know which other seats are empty ahead of time in order to decide whether they will go to the library and where to find available seats.

# Solution Overview

We will design a sensor-based device for each table to detect occupancy. The occupancy data will be uploaded through wifi to the cloud. There will be three states for each seat: occupied by people, occupied by items, or unoccupied. Then we will design an APP to visualize these data.

# Components

## The sensing subsystem:

• Data preprocessing and WiFi module to transfer data (ESP32)

• Multi-kinds of sensors to detect objects and collect data

• Wired power supply to support long-term real-time detection

## Human-computer interaction subsystem:

• Database server to store the collected data

• APP on the phone that allows clients to check the status of library seats

• It can indicate whether the seat is occupied with people (reserved by personal items), occupied without people, or available

# Criteria of Success

• Classify three different states of seats (occupied by people, occupied by items, or unoccupied)

• The accuracy of detecting whether a seat is reserved by items is above 90%

• The accuracy of detecting whether a seat is occupied by people is above 95%

• The sensor-based device APP is user-friendly and accurately visualizes the seat occupation

• The states of the seats get updated every 1 minute in the APP

• Adaptive to different kinds of table in the library (flexibility)

• Implement the database server bidirectionally: upload data from the device and download data to the APP