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Link to video and sound (details below): https://bit.ly/2Te3wMG

WHAT: the University of Hawaii at Mānoa could soon have its own fully autonomous delivery vehicle thanks to a College of Engineering students.

WHO: Students making up the team UH Parcel Service (UHPS) created a prototype driverless delivery vehicle capable of traveling up to four miles per hour, carrying a load of up to 300 pounds, traversing 15-degree inclines (more than most wheelchair ramps) and delivering and receiving packages.

WHY: UHPS was tasked with creating an autonomous delivery vehicle to reduce the use of fossil fuels and make product delivery more economical and efficient. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for contactless deliveries grew exponentially, making this technology even more desired.

WHEN: Fall 2020 and spring 2021

OR: UH Manoa

Additional details:

• While the prototype is capable of traveling in a straight line and making turns autonomously, programming it to travel through the UH Mānoa campus will be the task of next year’s team.

• The UHPS overcame many of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, including getting used to virtual meetings and finding the time to safely meet in person to test their prototype.

• UHPS is part of the Autonomous Electric Vehicle System, one of more than a dozen Vertically integrated projects (VIP) at UH Mānoa, which are specially designed to include faculty mentors, graduate student researchers, and undergraduate to senior students. The more experienced members mentor the new members, passing on their knowledge and expertise, and the process is repeated every year. The team consists of two distinct groups: VIP students and students of a senior design course from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

• The UHPS received nearly $ 5,000 in funding for the project from the College of Engineering and UH Mānoa Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

• Team members Daryll Suyat and Roxanne Balanay were part of the robotics team at Maui High School before attending UH Mānoa.

BROLL VIDEO: (1:52)

0: 00-0: 28 – UHPS delivery vehicle

0: 38-1: 52 – Engineering students from UH working on the autonomous delivery vehicle

SOUND EXTRACTS:

Roxanne Balanay, electrical manager UH Parcel Service

(10 seconds)

“I hope to see UHPS autonomously navigate the campus to make deliveries, and it will be a lot of work, especially in the standalone part, but I’m excited for what it will become. “

(13 seconds)

“I took these skills that I learned from robotics and I actually use and improve them and being able to see the result has really made me really proud of how far the vehicle has come.”

Daryll Suyat, UH Parcel Service project manager

(18 seconds)

“Just a bunch of different metals that you soldered into a frame, and just a bunch of wires, a bunch of different components and being able to see it work and work pretty well was a really good experience for me. “