The Beginning

At the start of every fall semester at Bradley, senior electrical engineering students begin their Senior Projects.  There are various projects to choose from.  Some of the projects are suggestions made by faculty members while others are student ideas.  The project lasts for two semesters and is a requirement for completion of the degree.  Students are advised to choose a project that will interest them.

Our project was suggested by Dr. Brian Huggins.  When we heard about it, we were all very interested in it because of the subject matter it dealt with: renewable energy and reduced pollution.  Renewable energy is a popular topic because of rising fuel costs and both pollution and energy are popular because of rising concerns about the environment.  Another benefit is that this project dealt with three other topics we were interested in.

This project mainly deals with power, batteries, and motors.  For this project we will have to become “experts” in a relatively short amount of time.  Fortunately, Dave works for a power company, Jamin works for a battery company, and Kraig works for a motor company. 

About one week into the project, we received an electric lawn mower body from a local company.  It did not have a motor or any power supply.  We hope to be performing test runs by December (before snow comes) so that we can work on designing the hardware and software over the winter.  When spring comes, we would like to be able to go out and mow the lawn with our mower.