Embedded Files
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Project Theia has made a good amount of progress in several areas in the first two terms of its lifespan. For instance, all of the pieces of the physical ROV system have been ordered, fabricated, and assembled. Additionally, the ROV was tested for the first time in water and was proven to be water-tight and almost perfectly neutrally buoyant. All of the thrusters and the manipulator were proven to be operational as well. For a team of only four ECE students, this level of progress in two terms shows dedication to a project that has many facets that could be considered out of an ECE student's range of expertise (especially the design and fabrication of the ROV enclosure).
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 outbreak prevented further water testing of the ROV and any work on the physical system in the Spring term of 2020. Without the ability to use the physical system, additional software modifications could not be tested and the computer vision algorithms that enable the autonomous capabilities of the ROV could not be fully developed. In the meantime, the project team has been focused on creating a set of documentation that will assist future teams in completing this ROV project to meet its original goals.
Despite the fact that this project deviated from its original timeline, this in no way diminishes the fact that the members of the project team have gained many skills through working on this project together. Effective communication, collaboration, time-management were all necessary in order to get the project to the state that it is in today.
Click here to view the spreadsheet in our team Google drive.
Project Timeline Breakdown
Project Timeline Breakdown
The Underwater ROV Project has been broken down into five phases: research, prototyping, testing, final assembly, and final testing.
Research
Research
The research phase consists of investigating possible methods of achieving the project's goals. Each team member has documented our research through individual research and implementation reports describing the technical challenges we expect to face and how we expect to overcome them.
Prototyping
Prototyping
The prototyping phase consists of the initial assembly of team members' individual blocks. During this phase we will go through two iterations of block check-offs. The first block check-off requires us to validate one block for each team member through demonstrations or videos. The second block check-off requires us to validate three blocks for each team member through demonstrations or videos.
Testing
Testing
The testing phase consists of beginning system integration. Where we will begin to integrate each of the blocks and their hardware and software components.
Final Assembly
Final Assembly
The final assembly phase consists of the final iteration of system integration where the team will be preparing for two sets of system check-offs. The first system check-off required us to validate six of our engineering requirements through video demonstrations. The second system check-off would have required us to validate all twelve of our engineering requirements through video demonstrations, but COVID-19 prevented us from reaching this point.
Final Testing
Final Testing
The final testing phase was intended to consist of finalizing the software and hardware components in preparation for the Undergraduate Engineering Design Expo. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak extensive testing and exhibiting at the Undergraduate Engineering Design Expo was unable to take place.
Page updated
Report abuse