Internal Projects
Semester-long Projects
At UCF, we create some projects and competitions of our own. These consist primarily of short design challenges/competitions as well as more creative or advanced concepts such as 2025’s Arcade Claw Machine and 2024’s Cyber Duck. These are completely created by UCF students so feel free to reach out with any project ideas you’d like to see in the future!
Current Projects
Compressed Air Engine Research Project
Members will design and manufacture multiple compressed air engines of different architectures, such as conventional and opposed piston architectures, and compare mechanical efficiency and other properties using data acquisition and analysis techniques.
Mechanical Luancher Competition
Members will create teams of up to 4 individuals to design and assemble a launcher capable of launching ping pong balls. Electrical components and filament use will be standardized across teams and a rule set will be published which will add more design challenges. This is a competition which places significance on the mechanical design above all else.
Car Crash Test Competition
Members may create teams of up to 4 people to design and manufacture a miniature car chassis which may include a variety of safety features to protect a dummy inside the cabin. The cars will be dropped down a ramp to accelerate to 20-25 miles per hour and experience a frontal collision into a wall as the first crash test, and will additionally have to survive a t-bone impact from a test vehicle accelerated to 20-25 miles per hour. Points will be awarded based on the condition of the dummy, and ties will be broken by vehicle weight first, apparent outward damage to the vehicle second, and aesthetics last.
Scaled Vehicle Competition
The Sub Scale RC Vehicle build gives members the chance to take a vehicle from concept to competition, designing, analyzing, building, and testing it themselves. Rather than buying a kit, the team designs and 3D prints as many components as possible in house, purchasing only what must be bought. Every subsystem, chassis, suspension and steering, and drivetrain, is paired with the same engineering practices used in industry: suspension kinematics, FEA on structural parts, gear and drivetrain analysis, and hands on validation testing on team built test equipment. We will be competing at the end of the year against Theta Tau!
Robot Starter Build
This project is a small, self movement robot built almost entirely from 3D-printed parts and electronics. It’s designed as an approachable first build for engineers who want to move from theory into practice and get comfortable with the fundamentals that underpin nearly every robotics and automation project.
Past Projects
Arcade Claw Machine
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Project guidelines and goals can be found here!
RC Helicopter Competitionerby
For RC Helicopter, members will work in teams of up to 4 to design and build a remote control helicopter using aerodynamic principals and engineering practices. At the end of the semester, teams will put their helicopters through an aerial obstacle course and flight test.
RC Derby
In RC Derby, members will work with a team of up to 4 to design and build a remote control race car using 3D modeling software, machine tools and engineering principals. At the end of the semester, teams will compete in a tournament to see who can build the best remote control car.
CyberDuck
In this project, a team will create and design an amphibious sub-surface watercraft that resembles a duck. Requirements include mimicking a duck’s tail using a propeller, the robot being completely waterproof, and the use of land supports such as a set of wheels or legs. The robot will be autonomous and remote-controlled using Arduino software, but teams will have free reign when deciding what materials and mechanisms they want to incorporate in order to complete the project. The size of the robot is also negligible as long as it is easily transportable.
Project guidelines and goals can be found here!
Prototype Pursuit: ASME Pitch Competition
Identify an issue in your everyday life and develop a solution or prototype to address them. You will then pitch your product to a panel of judges.
Project guidelines can be found here!
GNOR 2.0
The Great Navel Orange Race is an iconic tradition at UCF for engineering freshmen. Students often struggle as freshmen as this is their first major engineering project. A key engineering aspect it learning from past mistakes to build a better product. The goal is for upperclassmen to form a team and tackle the challenge of the GNOR boat race. This will help showcase improvement and growth in their engineering skills and provide transfer students with the opportunity to participate in the iconic race.
Project guidelines can be found here!
3D Bridge Project
Design a model bridge to be built entirely using 3D printing. The goal is to design a bridge to be able to withstand the largest force applied to it amongst other criteria.
Project guidelines can be found here!
Droid Competition
This project aims to engineer a droid capable of movement, object manipulation, and user interaction.
Project guidelines can be found here!
ASME Sterling Engine Design
Design and manufacture a working Sterling engine that can generate mechanical work via heat energy. Teams of up to four will work to design the most energy efficient Sterling engine!
Rube Goldberg Machine
Teams of up to 4 will design and construct a machine intended to complete a predetermined final goal through the sequence of various unrelated tasks organized in an intentional chain-reaction. Submissions will be in video format. Must be shot in one take, with the exception of intro/closing clips (not required).
Project guidelines can be found here!
SumoBots
Teams of up to 5 will be introduced to the mechanical design and build processes involved in the creation and operation of a SumoBot! Arena combat elimination tournament!
Project guidelines can be found here!
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