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Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some sort of ordering system that could deliver you an item in a matter of minutes? Summon a package, pizza, or parcel with the click of a button? Well, this dream can become a reality with the VaLET.

VaLET (VAriable Location Electronic Transport) is as small electric vehicle that can autonomously pickup and dropoff items all through the power of GPS, optical sensing, LIDAR, and radio frequencies. The goal of this project is for VaLET to successfully deliver a parcel to a provided location autonomously, while avoiding obstacles.

This autonomous drone-delivery solution for parcels operates best in small environments, such as college campuses or urban areas. VALET will make use of a sensor suite with optical, LIDAR, and GPS sensors. It will be capable of navigating between set GPS waypoints, while avoiding local obstructions (walls, trees, humans, trash cans, etc.). Upon arrival at its destination, the customer will be able to unlock VALET to retrieve the parcel using a QR code.

The Team

William Chestnut

Notre Dame Electrical Engineering '20'

Will worked on PCB design and layout for VaLET. He is a master of Eagle, and always cool, calm, and collected during meetings.

Alden Kane

Notre Dame Electrical Engineering '20

Alden is VaLET's Vision Engineer. He works extensively with OpenCV to implement useful vision functions in both the optical and IR range. His responsibilities include optical sensing, LiDAR sensing, front-end web development, and serial communication from the Raspberry Pi.

Perfect Mfashijwenimana

Notre Dame Electrical Engineering '20

Perfect enjoys working on power management for VaLET. He ensures that the system is well-balanced and that we have reasonable current draw from our battery. He is also an exceptional photographer/videographer and can always be found smiling.

Jonathan Peterson

Notre Dame Electrical Engineering '20

Jonathan Peterson is a senior from Minneapolis, MN. A former resident of Keough Hall, his academic interests include embdded systems, computer architecture, and digital logic. Following graduation, he will be joining General Dynamics Mission Systems as a FPGA Engineer in Minneapolis, MN.

Sean Scannell

Notre Dame Electrical Engineering/MBA '20

Sean works on the GPS system for VaLET and has become fond of NMEA standards. He also uses his keen business acumen in assisting the team with reports, presentations, and so forth. A solid Irish lad!