Silicon Glades: Preparing Heavy Equipment Technicians for Tele-Operated & Autonomous Machinery with AWS DeepRacer & Jetson
Stephen Bridges
ID-4047
School Name:Immokalee Technical College
Grant Request Grade:Adult Ed
Grant Request Subject:Technology
Additional Details
a) What is the overall purpose of your project?
To introduce autonomous fleet navigation, remote machine telematics, and intelligent vehicle control to students in the Heavy Equipment Service Technician program. By deploying a fleet of three 1/18th-scale intelligent test vehicles and a dedicated edge telematics hub, adult learners will study, troubleshoot, and calibrate the exact type of autonomous navigation, electronic motor controls, and remote operating systems transforming modern heavy construction, mining, and agricultural machinery.
b) What need(s) does it address?
The heavy equipment industry is undergoing a massive shift. In modern civil construction, mining, and precision agriculture, manufacturers like Caterpillar, Komatsu, and John Deere are rapidly moving away from purely manual cab operations toward tele-operated and fully autonomous machinery. Modern field technicians can no longer rely solely on mechanical wrenches; they must diagnose electronic speed controllers, calibrate camera-based safety suites, evaluate steering drive-by-wire actuators, and interpret live data feeds streamed from unmanned machines. Because our students cannot safely experiment with autonomous control algorithms on 40-ton excavators, these smart scale platforms provide the essential hands-on training ground to master automated vehicle diagnostics safely in the classroom.
c) What learning goal, academic standard, or outcome does your project address?
This project aligns with the Florida Department of Education’s Heavy Equipment Service Technician curriculum framework (Program T440200 / Diesel Systems Technician), specifically targeting competencies in electrical and electronic systems diagnostics, electronic speed control, CAN-bus/telematics data logging, and advanced safety-system verification.
Students will:
- Inspect, diagnose, and calibrate electric drive linkages, digital steering servos, and high-discharge battery power systems.
- Configure and evaluate remote vehicle telemetry over local wireless data links to monitor vehicle speed, heading, and perimeter obstacles in real time.
- Analyze machine-learning navigation policies to understand how autonomous earth-moving and haulage fleets make pathing and collision-avoidance decisions.
d) How does this project connect to a school or district priority?
Directly aligns with Collier County Public Schools’ strategic focus on workforce development, regional industry relevance, and high-wage career placement. Southwest Florida’s commercial infrastructure, land development, and road construction industries rely heavily on skilled equipment technicians. Preparing our adult learners to service both mechanical components and next-generation autonomous telematics ensures our graduates lead the regional workforce. Aligns with iTECH Vision of empowering students through innovating hands-on training and our shared beliefs that instruction must represent current technology and practices and that instruction is meaningful when it is relevant to the students and incorporates current issues.
a) How will students actively participate?
Students will work in small mechanical and diagnostic teams. Learners will set up the vehicles' steering geometries, calibrate dual-camera vision arrays, manage onboard power distribution, and establish secure wireless data connections with the central shop workstation. Working trackside on a modular barrier course, students will monitor live data feeds, diagnose communication lag or steering drift, and test vehicle-response behaviors when unexpected obstacles enter the driving path.
b) How will this project meet the needs of your students, classroom, and/or school?
This grant bridges the physical mechanical systems in our heavy equipment bays with the campus-wide Silicon Glades initiative at iTECH. Our students already master diesel engines, hydraulics, and transmissions; this testbed provides the electronic and autonomous missing link. Using physical scale models allows every student to safely test drive-by-wire fail-safes and remote controls without safety risks or burning costly diesel fuel.
c) What teaching strategies or instructional activities will be used?
- Drive-by-Wire & Actuator Calibration Labs: Students adjust electronic steering trims, throttle response curves, and optical sensors to correct mechanical wander.
- Telematics & Remote Fleet Diagnostics: Teams track real-world machine data—evaluating how latency, battery drop, and sensor glare affect vehicle safety.
- Inter-Program Field Trials: Heavy equipment students host demonstration runs for IT, manufacturing, and automotive students, explaining the electro-mechanical principles behind autonomous steering and braking systems.
d) How will student participation connect to classroom instruction?
Connects directly to curriculum units covering heavy vehicle electrical schematics, electronic control modules (ECMs), sensor inputs, digital communication buses, and OSHA jobsite safety perimeter protocols. Small teams will rotate through structured workstations—one group running track trials, another inspecting vehicle battery health, and a third analyzing telemetry logs at the workstation.
a) What specific improvements do you expect for your students?
Future-Proofing Heavy Trade Careers: Many adult students in the Heavy Equipment program enter with mechanical aptitude but limited exposure to modern digital controls. Mastering intelligent vehicle platforms demystifies computerized machinery, giving our students the technical vocabulary, confidence, and practical diagnostic edge required to earn top-tier pay as modern field service technicians.
A Campus-Wide Cross-Disciplinary Bridge:
- Heavy Equipment & Automotive: Students gain practical troubleshooting experience with electric propulsion, electronic speed controllers, and automated safety systems.
- Information Technology: IT cohorts manage the wireless gateway and assist with telemetry logging, mirroring how IT and maintenance departments collaborate in modern industrial yards.
- Advanced Manufacturing: Demonstrates how automated guided haulers coordinate movement alongside sorting conveyors and warehouse workcells.
- Digital Media: Media students document live fleet demonstrations, producing high-impact technical reels for student portfolios and campus recruiting.
b) How will you know the project was successful?
Success will be achieved when 100% of participating student teams successfully calibrate a vehicle's steering and vision hardware, deploy an autonomous driving routine, and complete three consecutive track laps while maintaining lane safety boundaries and avoiding stationary obstacles.
c) What evidence, observations, student work, or assessments will demonstrate impact?
- Diagnostic Inspection Checklists: Industry-standard equipment checklists completed by students covering battery health, servo linkage alignment, and sensor calibration.
- Telematics Performance Reports: Printed or digital telemetry charts documenting lap completion consistency, wheel speeds, and obstacle detection reaction times.
- Technical Demonstration Rubrics: Practical evaluations measuring each student’s ability to explain the mechanical drive systems, safety interlocks, and remote controls to industry advisory members.
Purpose of Funding
The requested funds will acquire a three-vehicle autonomous scale platform fleet, high-capacity replacement batteries with a balance charger, a modular safety barrier system, an isolated low-latency wireless router, and a dedicated edge processing workstation with high-endurance storage. Sourced through verified educational/secondary surplus listings to maximize value, these rugged scale platforms provide a permanent, reusable testing lab that operates entirely on-site with zero recurring cloud subscription costs.
Budget Narrative
Direct Student Learning Impact:
- 3× Autonomous Scale Vehicles ($750 total): Provides a multi-vehicle fleet so students work in parallel teams, learning fleet tracking, vehicle spacing, and multi-machine coordination.
- 1× Dedicated Edge Telematics Workstation ($499): Functions as the shop floor "control tower," receiving live vehicle camera feeds, recording diagnostic logs, and displaying machine performance.
- 512GB Industrial High-Endurance NVMe SSD ($55): High-speed solid-state storage engineered to withstand the constant reading and writing of real-time telemetry data and video logs without system slowdowns.
- Dedicated Low-Latency Wi-Fi 6 Gateway ($145): Creates a secure, private communication network between the machines and the diagnostic station, ensuring smooth real-time control without network interference.
- High-Capacity Batteries, Multi-Bank Charger & Safety Track Barriers ($465 total): Essential hardware to run continuous classroom lab rotations without dead batteries, paired with modular borders to ensure safe, contained driving runs in the shop.
Number of Students Benefiting:
- 30 to 60 adult students annually in heavy equipment and automotive technician pathways will work hands-on with the fleet.
- 150+ cross-campus students will observe inter-program demonstrations illustrating how remote controls and automated fleets operate on modern jobsites.
- 100% Non-Consumable: Rugged, fully rebuildable mechanical platforms that will serve incoming student cohorts for years.
