Robosub

Colorado Robosub is a student organization at CU Boulder that previously competed in the Robonation Robosub competition but now competes in the MATE ROV competition. In 2021 and 2022 we won our regional competition but decided not to travel to the MATE World Championship. In 2023, we competed in the MATE ROV World Championship for the first time and placed 16th overall and 10th in the pool in a field of 23 teams. We hope to return in 2024 with a new ROV, Chimera.

From January 2021 until my graduation May 2024, I was involved with the Colorado Robosub team in some capacity. In that time I served as the mechanical team lead, president, and as a technical advisor. Some of the projects I worked on can be found below.

Chimera ROV

Chimera is Colorado Robosub's second-generation remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Like the mythical creature, Chimera will be a hybrid design. This capability means running on a surface-tethered power and control, via battery power and autonomous control, or in a mixed configuration. This capability will allow Chimera to compete in the MATE ROV competition, while also giving Colorado Robosub a platform to test and integrate autonomous functions in a piecewise manner for future use.

I designed the entire frame, and most of the electrical architecture for Chimera. After several team reviews, I handed the frame design over to the mechanical team for manufacture. This allowed me to focus on the development and integration of the electrical system.

Vertical Profiling Float

In 2022 I led the development of a buoyancy engine-powered vertical profiling float. The float used a PVC pipe as the main hull. The buoyancy engine operated using four internal syringes that pumped oil into an external balloon. While the mass of the oil and the rest of the system remained constant, the displaced volume could be altered via the balloon to increase or decrease the buoyant force acting on the float. Unfortunately the motor drive shaft was bent during shipping and a replacement could not be manufactured in time, so the project was scrapped. However, this still provided me with a valuable lesson (be careful who you order from) and design experience that was carried forward into advising the development of the team's next float.

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