Midwest Roadside Safety Facility has been supporting undergraduate and graduate students in the college of engineering since its inception within the College of Engineering. Caleb Osmond and Nathan (Nate) Reineke are two students working on a variety of projects. They are currently pursuing their Master’s degrees under the advisement of Dr. Cody Stolle, an expert in finite-element simulations, vehicle dynamics, impact dynamics, and all things roadside hardware. Osmond says their workspace allows them to make mistakes, learn from them, and pursue the things they are interested in.
Osmond has worked in almost all aspects of the facility and favors working at the test site. “It makes me proud to see late nights and hard work in the office translate to successful results at the proving grounds.” He says that in many ways, an engineer’s responsibility is to predict the future, and it never gets old seeing the theory translate to reality. Osmond and Reineke are currently working on projects with the Department of Defense led by Dr. Stolle that aims to design infrastructure, further understanding of vehicle dynamics, and characterize vehicles. Osmond uses automated data-processing and coding data-visualizing methods along with vehicle instrumentation to extract precise vehicle positions and develop a remote driving apparatus capable of driving a vehicle at high speeds and varying trajectories. Reineke uses vehicle simulations via CarSim to compare simulation vehicles to the live tests.
A recent robotics class project had Osmond and Reineke vying for a spot on the Husker lineup with the creation of a small-scale automated robotic field-goal kicking system. The goal of the Precision Auto-kicking Technology “PAT” was to kick goals better than the average college football kicker by incorporating real-time computer vision, dynamic aim, and full automation. The machine comprises a robotic arm that picks up and holds a small foam football, a kicking mechanism that uses a brushless DC motor to swing at the ball, and a USB camera to assist in tracking the mini field goal and gauging the kicking distance. The system currently almost beats the kickers, but due to delayed shipping of the brushless motor drivers, time ran out for improvement on the already short schedule. The system is about 67% accurate within a tested 50-degree field of vision at a scaled distance of 50 yards or less, meaning the small-scale version can kick mini foam footballs about 5.5 feet through a small field goal about 8 inches wide. Osmond said it was the first time he had done anything with real-time computer vision and the project required a few all-nighters but proved worth it and was his favorite project to work on so far at UNL. Osmond and Reineke were familiar with computer vision, as it is often used at MwRSF to track the trajectory of vehicles after impact in a similar way this project tracked the field goal and computed the distance between it and the system. Osmond is currently editing a video of the project and hopes Coach Matt Rhule will see it and offer “PAT” an NIL deal. “I could see it being a great half-time show” Osmond says and hopes former Colts punter Pat McAfee will particularly like the kicking apparatus of the same name.
Reineke gained interest in transportation engineering during his undergraduate career in agricultural engineering. He always had an interest in vehicles and worked with small engines frequently in high school. “I realized I could turn my interests in vehicles into a career through mechanical engineering”, he says, and after graduation in December 2025 from the mechanical engineering MS program, he plans to work in the automotive industry with a particular interest in safety and design. When asked if there was a specific project that stuck out as particularly fun or challenging, he mentioned his Theory of Plasticity course last semester. The project included creating several different plastic deformation models in LS Dyna, a multiphysics simulation software. He sees the software being an important resource in his work going forward at MwRSF.
Osmond earned a physics degree while playing college soccer and transferred to UNL to become more involved in research. He saw the finite-element simulations performed at MwRSF and resonated with their mission to improve occupant safety. At Midwest, he saw the potential to be involved in highly applied research that has immediate impact as transportation is an integral part of everyday life. A current class is incorporating AI as he works on glasses that can help the user play chess by sending image data to the cloud where machine learning models extract relevant game state information to provide the next best move. He looks forward to beating anyone that challenges him in a match soon. The fully automated inverted pendulum system in an advanced controls course was the most challenging and tedious project he had worked on up to that point as it was difficult to get the inverted pendulum to swing up and stay upright using a Lyaprunov energy controller. The project video can be found on his LinkedIn page.
He will graduate from the mechanical engineering MS program in December 2025, although he has not decided on plans past graduation. “Generally, I plan to continue being a sponge and getting 1% better every day.” He has a dream of starting his own company but could see himself gaining experience in the private sector working at an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or in the defense industry. He enjoys making things and prototyping, with special interests in automated vehicles, controls, robotics, the internet of things, vehicle dynamics, simulations, localization, precise positioning, automation, navigation, website building, and computer vision. He is currently looking for an excuse to implement stereovision in a course project as soon as possible. He believes automated vehicles are the next great engineering challenge and “being a part of the automated vehicle revolution would be a great honor.”
