2022 Scout Tasks

Apart from building our entire underwater robot, we will also need to consider how our robot will complete the following tasks. 

SCOUT tasks: 

TASK 1: Marine Renewable Energy

Ocean Infinity supports the installation and maintenance of marine renewable energy systems, including floating and fixed offshore wind turbines. The company is equipping its Armada fleet of uncrewed robotic surface vessels with the capability to operate other underwater technologies, such as ROVs, from these platforms. While the vessels are controlled remotely, there is room for a “lean” crew to travel with the ROV to conduct inspections and routine maintenance of offshore wind farms and their impact on the surrounding environment. The goal is to eventually provide a resident ROV that “lives” on the farm and is preprogrammed to do inspections, maintenance, and monitoring at given time intervals. Until that capability is developed, operators will continue pilot ROVs to complete these tasks as well as to test out the ability of the ROV to “park” itself in a docking station. 

Scout Tasks:

• Replace a damaged section of an inter-array power cable o Remove the damaged section of cable to Install a new section of cable 

• Attach buoyancy modules to inter-array cables of a floating offshore wind turbine o Remove the failed buoyancy module o Attach a new buoyancy module 

• Support environmental impact studies o Deploy a hydrophone to detect and record the presence of marine mammals o Remove a ghost net caught on the wind turbine’s substructure

TASK 2: Offshore Aquaculture and Blue Carbon Aquaculture companies like Forever Oceans use ROVs like the BlueROV2 to inspect offshore aquaculture pens and maintain a healthy environment for both fish stock and the surrounding ocean community. Similar to offshore wind farms, the goal is to eventually “park” an ROV within the pen and preprogram it to carry out inspections and maintenance. However, until that time, operators are needed to perform these tasks, which include inspecting the nets for structural integrity, making repairs, and removing fish mortalities (aka “morts”). In addition to marine renewables, Ocean Infinity supports Blue Carbon initiatives like Project Seagrass. Project Seagrass restores and cultivates seagrass beds, which are extremely effective at absorbing and storing CO2. Project Seagrass is currently looking for a mechanism that can both “plant” new and prune existing seagrass beds; pruning keeps the grasses healthy and promotes growth. 

SCOUT tasks: 

• Inspect an offshore aquaculture fish pen o Repair the damaged area o Remove marine growth ▪ Remove encrusting marine growth ▪ Remove algal marine growth 

• Maintain a healthy environment for fish stock o Manage mortality by removing morts from the pen 

• Farm seagrass o Prune an existing seagrass bed o Plant a new bed of seagrass

TASK 3: The Antarctic Then and Now – Endurance22 and MATE Floats! The goal of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded GO-BGC Project is to build a global network of chemical and biological sensors that will monitor ocean health. Scientists, engineers, and technicians are using NSF grant funds to build and deploy 500 robotic ocean-monitoring floats around the globe, including in Antarctic waters. Reach The World is part of an expedition to find the Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship which was crushed by sea ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in November 1915. Organized and funded by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, Endurance22 is scheduled to set sail in February 2022. While the coordinates where the ship sank were documented, the challenge lies in accessing the wreck. The expedition will use an icebreaker to get close to the location; if they can’t reach the site itself, they will set up a camp on the moving pack ice. The plan is drill holes in the ice through which operators will deploy an ROV, flying transects until they find the ship. While its primary focus is the search for the shipwreck, the expedition represents an opportunity to gather data on the extraordinarily diverse range of species, including sponges, sea stars, and cold-water corals, that inhabit the benthos of the Weddell Sea. Given the remoteness and infrequency in studying and sampling, it’s been difficult to predict how benthic communities will react to climate-based changes in the environment. 

SCOUT tasks: 

• MATE Floats! o Recover a GO-BGC float to conduct diagnostics 

▪ Determine the location where the float will next surface 

▪ Recover the float 

• Endurance22 o Deploy an anchored buoy to mark the location of the shipwreck 

Or (if the expedition is postponed until 2023!)

• Polar science ---Collect samples of benthic species

SPECS What follows is a summary of the electrical and fluid power requirements for each competition class. The complete design and building specifications will be included within the competition manual. NOTE: Watch for new safety requirements and additional, detailed electrical specifications within the competition manuals.

SCOUT 

• 12 volts, 15 amps DC. Conversion to lower voltages is permitted topside and on the ROV. Any onboard electrical power source is not permitted. 

● Manually powered hydraulics and pneumatics are permitted. Pneumatic systems cannot exceed ambient pool pressure and must follow the fluid power specifications included within the competition manual. 

● Lasers are NOT permitted. 

● Depth requirement: Varies depending on the regional event. Contact your regional coordinator or check your regional competition information document. 

● Anderson Powerpole connectors are required on all vehicles. 

● Maximum size limit: None.

RESOURCES 

Teams are permitted to use the materials of their choice provided that they are safe, will not damage or otherwise mar the competition environment, and are within the defined design and building specifications. Teams are encouraged to focus on engineering a vehicle to complete the product demonstration tasks, when considering design choices, teams should ask themselves which one most efficiently and effectively allows them to solve the problem. Re-using components built by previous team members is permitted provided that the current team members evaluate, understand, and can explain their engineering and operational principles. Using or re-using commercial components is also permitted, provided that team members evaluate, understand, and can explain their engineering and operational principles. Teams will be questioned extensively on their overall design and component selections during their engineering presentations.