Testing Procedures

The frame for the ROV will allow the craft to support a mechanical arm and hold the propulsion system. The frame should hold all equipment, and move smoothly and balanced as the propulsion system, moves it through the water.

The electrical housing should be able to contain the electrical exponents that cannot be exposed to water. It should contain such items so that they do not short circuit while the craft is submersed.

The controls should be able operate the propulsion system moving the craft; up, down, forwards, backwards, and rotating it. The controls should also be able to operate the mechanical arm.

Frame:
1. After completion of building, place in water with a depth of four meters.
2. The craft should be close to neutral buoyancy, but slightly positively buoyant.
3. Make adjustments with buoyancy until desired buoyancy level is attained.

Electrical Housing:
1. After completion of building, place underwater.
2. Use electrical components through housing.
3. Check to make sure nothing has short circuited.

Controls:
1. After completion of building, connect to the “umbilical cord” connected to the craft’s electrical housing.
2. Operate the craft with the controls.
3. Run every possible maneuver; move the craft up, down, forward, backward, and rotate it.
4. Operate the mechanical arm after the propulsion system has been tested and is in working condition.
5. Pick up desired object with craft.
6. Carry the object to the surface and back to the bottom.
7. Return craft to the surface.

An ROV picking tubes out of a basket.

Research

Structure:
Frame:
This is the basis of the structure and the first item that is built when putting together an ROV. All of the equipment will be attached to this so it is crucial that this is designed lightly yet sturdily. Frames can be made form hard plastics, aluminum, and many other sturdy building materials that hold up well in water and under pressure. The frame should be as light as it possibly can while not being to light that everything mounted to it will not harm the integrity of it. The size of the frame can be large or small. It depends on what needs to be put onto the ROV. For this ROV thrusters, buoyancy control, a camera, and a mechanical arm are all that will be put onto it so it will not be large (Work).

All of the important components that will be added to the ROV will be attached to a base that firmly attached to the frame. Many items can be used for this base and there are several common ways to attach it to the frame. A hard plastic mesh is a simple basic base that can easily be cut to the shape required for the ROV. This can be zip tied to the frame; it can be clamped with brackets and screws also. Other bases can be anything that is solid, waterproof, and thin so that components such as the thrusters can be mounted to it, as well as the housing for the electrical components (Rollette).

Maneuverability:
Bilge Pumps:
Bilge pumps are generally used on boats to pump water out of the bilge and other areas of the boat where water doesn’t drain naturally. They suck water through the bottom of their shaft and it is forced out through a smaller hole on the top or side of the pump. They are run electrically and do not use a large sizable amount of current if they are small. These used on a small light vehicle could push it smoothly through the water. Several of these angled properly on an ROV would be able to give the craft the ability to move up, down, forwards, backwards, and spin (Veirs).
Motor and Propeller:
The motor and propeller is another simple way to maneuver an ROV. Popularly seen on airplanes, a motor and propeller used for an ROV such as this is much smaller. A watertight housing area for the motor is also required in this design to shield the motor from water because this too is electrically run; otherwise the motor would short-circuit the moment running while in the water. This housing can be airtight or filled with oil depending on the motor in use. A pressure resistant housing would be cheaper and more sensible for this ROV. Motors used for an ROV can range from very small, such as a model aircraft, to a large motor used in a cooling unit (Work).

Flotation/Buoyancy:
Neutral Buoyancy:
When a craft is in a body of water, it either floats, sinks, or is neutrally buoyant. In the case of an ROV, it is preferred to have the ROV at neutral buoyancy. This allows the thrusters to not over work themselves trying to keep the vehicle form either rising to the surface or sinking to the bottom. When a craft is neutrally buoyant it is much easier to pilot.

Other:
Surface Equipment:
While the ROV is busy at work underwater it must be controlled by a human above the water. In order to do this a monitor is need in order to see what the ROV is seeing through the video camera. A power supply is needed in order to run the ROV. Because the ROV will be run by electricity it will need to be plugged in, extension cords will be needed due to the possibility of an electrical outlet not being local to the diving area (Work).

“Umbilical Cord:”
This is the cable that carries all of the power to the ROV, all of the information to the video monitor, and all of the inputs and controls to the ROV. This must be waterproof, flexible, and long enough for the ROV to move freely (Work).

Housing:
This is a crucial part of the ROV in which all of the electrical inputs come and video output leaves. It also is the part of the ROV where the thrusters can be mounted. If your ROV has lights as well as the video camera on it they can be mounted on this also. This housing should be waterproof to protect the electrical equipment. The thrusters, cameras, and other parts can be mounted on the outside of the housing for the ROV (Work).

Control:
The ROV must be controlled at the surface by a human. The ROV must have a control panel along with the monitor to make the ROV do what is wanted of it. The propulsion should have controls in order to move it open and down in the water, forwards and backwards, and a control to make it spin. Sometimes it is suggested that the camera has an ability to move. If so there needs to be a control for this function also (Work).

Works Cited

Rollette, Jason. Underwater ROV submarine camera version 2. 2005. 2 September 2007. http://www.rollette.com/rovrev2/

Veirs, Scott. ROV Parts list and approximate costs. 2001. 1 September 2007. http://www.ocean.washington.edu/people/grads/scottv/exploraquarium/rov/home

Work Ocean. 1995. 1 September 2007.

http://www.rov.net/pages/Rokit5.htm

More Specifications

Cost:

• Some cost limitations may arise, none have been observed as of September 20th, 2007

Aesthetics:

• Must look professional, by the standards of the team building it
• May have a team emblemWill be painted, to distinguish from other ROVs at competition

Function:

• To operate smoothly in a freshwater environment of up to 4 meters and place well in competition
• Must be able to maneuver up, down, forwards, backwards, and rotate
• Must be able to pick up objects and carry them to the desired location

Ergonomics:

• The human will interact with the finished product by remotely controlling the craft from land
• The ROV will be operated though a controller or control box
• The human must be able to place it in the water with only members of the team
• The human must be able to remove the craft from the water

Quality:

• Built well enough so that it does well in competition
• The craft will be built to hold up until it is disassembled

User:

• Will be used by two teammates and myself
• Someone with skill in controlling an object remotely
• Possibly someone who often plays video games
• Must have know how to use the controls to operate precisely
• Not much human training should be needed to operate this system

Environment:

• The ROV will be used at a maximum depth of approximately 4 meters
• The ROV will be tested in a large fresh water pool
• The product will not be harmful to the environment in any way

Background Information

The Remotely Operated Vehicle, ROV Mate Submersible is crucial for deep sea research at depths where man cannot venture due to hazardous, conditions (see, Figure 1, and advanced scientific ROV used for delving into deep depths and taking samples and photographs for scientific purposes). The ROV Mate is a remote controlled vehicle with one or multiple cameras and a working arm to collect samples, and research deep depths. As a project for high school this would be the beginning to a more in depth undertaking. This ROV Mate will only work in freshwater, limiting testing and evaluation to large tanks and freshwater bodies of water. In the long range, more advanced forms of this can help science greatly for the specific reason that humans are not able to travel to certain depths due to pressure and oxygen shortage. ROV Mates don’t need oxygen and aren’t as expensive as creating a pressure suit for a human to travel to a deep depth. This project has been done before, but it can be improved upon by learning from any mistakes made by previous teams and building on their ideas.

ROVs are the safest way for scientists to research the deep depths of the sea. It doesn’t put any human lives at risk besides being on the vessel that the ROV is launched off of, but this risk is far lesser than being in human operated vehicle at a depth of two thousand feet. Not only is it safer for human life it is economically better too. To send a human in a submersible to a deep depth it cost much more money to design and engineer a vessel that can support life for a human. First the human operated submersible would need to be study enough to support the pressure of the depths and it would need a supply of oxygen for the passenger to survive. Even after these two necessities are met there is still the possibility that there could be a failure in a computer, the electronics, or any system on the craft, leaving the passenger stranded with no readily available help and no supplies to stay alive for long. Simply stated, an ROV is a more practical, safe and cheap way to undertake underwater research.

After basic research of the ROV MATE Competition, several discoveries have been made. The first of these is the purpose for the ROV MATE Competition each year. The competition has been created and ran every year for the preparation for the future in the marine related occupations. Marine Advanced Technology Education Center, MATE has been around since 1999 and has been holding the competition annually for several years. The ROV being designed and created this school year will be entered into the competition in the late spring of 2008. It will be built according to the specifications of MATE and will be compete against other teams, built up of high school students with similar ROVs. (Marine)

Several teams from the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, MAST, have competed in this competition and recent years. This project is aimed at improving on the efforts of groups past. The aim is to do well in the ROV MATE competition in late spring of 2008. Efforts will be put into the body of the craft, the mechanical arm and the propulsion system; the goal will be all three major finished pieces of the vehicle to work together in unity with guidance from the video surveillance that will be mounted to the vehicle (see, Figure 2, an ROV in competition maneuvering towards the toy balls to pick them up with its mechanical arm). As with winning ROVs in the past the key is unity throughout the system.

Advanced ROVs cost thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. More basic level ROVs that will enter the competition can cost well under a thousand dollars. They structures are generally constructed of PVC piping because it is cheap, compared to high priced, non- rusting metals (see, Figure 2, the structure of this ROV is mostly made up of PVC and the propulsion has easily been mounted on the rear section of this vehicle). PVC is easy to put together and a basic structure can be assembled in many varieties of ways to accommodate for the mechanical arm to be attached, have cameras mounted, as well as fans or pumps for the thrusting and maneuvering of the ROV.

These are some of the basics in regards to an ROV. It is important that all the different parts work together as a single system and that it operates smoothly for the craft to be a success. In doing this the entire team will have to work together to come up with a final design, and construct it well so that it operates well. It will take a sufficient amount of time produce a successful ROV. What time and effort is put into it will reflect in how it performs at the competition.


Picture1: (ROV)
Picture2: (ROV Competition)

Works Cited

Marine Advanced Technology Education Center. 2007. MATE. 8 July 2007.
http://www.marinetech.org/home.php

ROV. 2006. Woods Hole Science Center. 8 July 2007.
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/sfmapping/images/ROV.jpg

ROV Competition. 2005. Western School District. 8 July 2007.
http://www.wnlsd.ca/images/ROV/MateROV%20060.jpg

Limitations

General:

• Will need a testing tank or pool
• Cost will be prohibitive based on the degree of funding
• No more than 3 monitors (TV screens for the cameras)
• Must operate with less than 13 Volts and 25 Amps

Frame:

• Must be small enough so two team members can place and remove the craft from the water
  Electrical Housing:
• Must be small enough to fit on the frame with out requiring too much space

Controls:

• Must be operable with two hands

Specifications

General:

• Must operate on DC current
• Must operate with less than 13 Volts and 25 Amps
• Must be carried, launched, and recovered by only the team members
• Must be operable at a depth of 4 meters
• Will need working mechanical arm
• Must be Remotely operated

Frame:

• Must be submersible in freshwater
• Must be durable
• Must be able to hold all system components; such as the propulsion, cameras, etc.

Electrical Housing:

• Must be completely waterproof
• All electronics must come from control box through “umbilical cord” to housing
• All systems must run off of electric that comes through the housing

Controls:

• Must be simple to teach to use
• Must be run with switches or joysticks for simplicity

Design Brief

Design and construct, the frame, control box and electrical components for the unmanned submersible.

Calender

September
19. Work on calendar and post on webblog
20. Calendar due, revise brainstorming
21. Complete brainstorming
24. Touch up alternative solutions
25. Continue and complete alternative solutions
26. Begin testing procedures
27. Complete testing procedures, have posted: alternative solutions, brainstorming, and testing procedure
28. Begin selection/ rejection report
October
1. Discuss with group members selection/ rejection
2. Make a selection from the alternative solutions
3. Informal progress update, brainstorming, alternative solutions, testing procedures, & outline
4. Collect ideas for the materials to be used in the model
5. Begin to gather materials for the model
8. Finish collection of materials for model
9. Begin the assembly of the model
10-19. Continue work on the model
22. Finish major model parts
23. Touch up small areas of model
24. Have model entirely finished
25. Begin developmental work
26. Continue developmental work
29. Prepare for presentations
30. Final preparation for presentations
31. Model, selection/ rejection due
November
1. Formal Presentations
2-13. Getting ahead on second marking period work