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Around January, the STEM II class was given the opportunity to compete in the SeaPerch competition. This competition requires a team of 5 or 6 people to build an underwater ROV, or remotely operated vehicle. The team's ROV needs to be able to complete a series of tasks within a giant pool in an efficient amount of time. Our goal was to make an originally designed ROV that could pick up rings and PVC pipe cubes from the bottom of the pool and move them throughout the course. My team was made up of four other girls and we created the company WAVES.
Research
In order to fully understand what we needed to accomplish, we researched different principle that would go into evaluating the design of the ROV. The factors of fluids would affect the ROV such as the force of buoyancy and the density of not only the fluid but of the ROV to.
Fluids are more than just liquids; they can be a liquid or a gas. The reason they are lumped together is because they behave the same in scientific calculations and experiments. The defining characteristic of a fluid is its ability for its electrons to freely move around in the volume of the fluid, unlike a solid where electrons are stuck in the same place.
Density is the measure of how much mass is contained in a measure of volume.
Buoyancy is a force that acts on objects in water. It is an upwards force that acts on objects in a fluid with a measurable density. A negatively buoyant object sinks. A neutrally buoyant object will stay in the same place. A positively buoyant object will float.
Using these principles and other calculations, we were able to design and build an ROV model, but before we could do that, we had to create our group's company for the competition.
Our Company
For the project, each team was made up of 5-6 people and we had to create our own company for each of our ROV designs. My team, made up of myself and 4 others, was called WAVES. We each had our own place in the company and created resumes to pertain to our own positions, including lists of our achievements in each position.
The split up responsibilities were as follows:
- Kali is the CEO. She is to oversee the process and help design and test the ROV.
- I am the head engineer. I am to design the ROV, including determining the measurements of and constucting the frame.
- Christina is the head journalist. She is to keep a daily log of all the activites and progress made on the ROV. She is also to help design the frame and aid in soldering.
- Abigayle is the head designer. She is to solder and construct the controls along with the motors.
- Kelsey is the CFO. She is to aid in soldering, moniter the budget, and put all of the writing together.
Resume Link:
Engineering Notebook
One person on our team kept a daily log of the designing and building process of the ROV, along with any progress the team made among ourselves and the documentation we needed to complete. We wrote an engineering notebook for the Seaperch competiton project that included our naval engineering research, the design, engineering, and manufacuring process for the ROV, a section on our team's success, a bill of material with the budget, and a daily journal.
Engineering Notebook Link: https://docs.google.com/a/laceyschools.org/document/d/1H_0njTrRuaT6tSnaiEL76xKNaPMKPZZ8RY5V3CEVGTE/edit?usp=sharing
Building Process in Pictures
Final Frame Design Without Hook
Motors Before Sealing
Soldering the Control Panel
Top-View of Completed Seaperch ROV
ROV Being Tested in the Pool
Final ROV Design
If you would like to learn more about the Seaperch Competition or how to build your own ROV, here is a link to the instruction manual of the Seaperch Competition that our team used. We based our own design off of this one, but threw in our own modifications.
Seaperch Competition Instruction Manual Link:
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