GT MRG RoboSub 2024

Robosub 2024 competition

RoboSub, organized by RoboNation, is an annual underwater robotics competition where student teams from around the world design, build, and operate autonomous submarines. Participants showcase their engineering prowess by completing a series of challenging tasks in an underwater environment. This interdisciplinary competition fosters innovation, collaboration, and hands-on learning in robotics and autonomous systems.

Please see the updated competition info and tasks HERE

Check out our team introduction video!

gt robosub mechanical

I have been an active member of Georgia Tech's Marine Robotics Group (MRG) since August 2023, contributing as a Mechanical Engineer in the Robosub team and stepping up to lead the Robosub mechanical team later in the spring of 2024.

The GT MRG Robosub team consists of 6 Mechanical members, 3 Electrical members, and 8+ Software/CV members

In this role, I led the development of the external and internal structure of the autonomous robotic submarine from scratch, including the electronics enclosure, external mounting rails and plates, thrusters, thruster mounts, internal electronic housing, battery housing, torpedo shooter, and robotic arm.

I had the opportunity to leverage my interdisciplinary robotics skills by integrating electrical and software considerations into the mechanical design process to achieve "mechanical intelligence". Collaborating with the electrical and software teams provided valuable feedback, which we used to test and refine the mechanical design.

The current goal for the GT MRG Robosub team (for the August 2024 competition):

10 - 20 Active members
Obtain solid mechanical performance and integrity, with minimal part failure.
Achieve the fused IMU and vision-based stabilization and depth control, resulting in less than 1ft depth change
Obtain robust autonomous navigation capabilities, including path generation, control, and path-following.
Achieve robust classification and segmentation of simple tasks.
Refine and prototype the Torpedo shooter.
Refine and prototype the simple robotic arm and gripper.

The Future goal for the GT MRG Robosub team (for 2025 competition):

15 - 25 Active members
The sub will eventually contain 4-5 subsystems for different tasks with an Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano computer, microcontrollers, sonar, camera, Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) sensor, hydrophone array, and waterproofed rotary and linear actuators for autonomous operations.
Refine, manufacture, and integrate the final robotic arm and gripper.
Refine, manufacture, and integrate the final torpedo shooter.
Refine, manufacture, and integrate the marker chip dropper.

A Sample of my design work in gt mrg robosub

horizontal motor mount design

What?
Design a long motor mount that is modular for maintenance, lightweight, hydrodynamically efficient, and low-cost.

How?
Utilize airfoil-inspired biconvex shape for hydrodynamic efficiency, prototyped using epoxy-coated 3D printed PETG Plastic parts + 18-8 Stainless Steel circular standoffs.

Results?
Drastically reduced the water resistance from the original design. Reduce the weight of each motor mount by 83%.

Vertical motor mount design

What?
Design a short motor mount that is modular for maintenance, lightweight, hydrodynamically efficient, and low-cost.

How?
Utilized airfoil-inspired biconvex shape for hydrodynamic efficiency, prototyped using 3D printed PETG.

Results?
Drastically reduced the water resistance from the original design. Reduce the weight of each motor mount by 44%.

Enclosure clamp design

What?
Design an enclosure clamp that is modular, lightweight, strong, and able to clamp the rubber strip against the enclosure's external wall tightly for the positioning of the Aluminium plates.

How?
Utilized split-ring design, prototyped using solid 3D printed PETG and EPDM Rubber for superior properties in Marine applications.

Results?
Clamps are much more secure than the original design. Reduced the weight by 23% while costing only 5.6$ per pair.

Internal electronics drawer design

What?
Design an electronic housing inside the enclosure, with the goal of being able to perform the inspection, repair, and replace easily

How?
Utilized the different ring mounts for stabilizing the drawer slides constraining the possible movement of the drawers in all directions without having to fasten it with the enclosure.

Results?
The modularity of the ring mounts provides easy installation and reliable constraints. The self-closing drawer accommodates an easy disassembly of the electrical components

Endcap translation + rotation locks design

What?
Designed a low-profile endcap lock to restrict both translational and rotational movement. The translational lock prevents accidental water ingress by ensuring the end caps remain secure during movement in shallow water. The rotational lock ensures both end caps are aligned, maintaining synchronized upright positioning between the external frame and internal drawer.

How?
Utilized the geometric constraints of the end caps for the rotational lock and incorporated rotation knobs for the translational lock. Designed with a spring-loaded stainless steel ball plunger to provide tactile feedback and ensure secure positioning of the knob, functioning effectively as a 2-way switch.

Results?
The geometric constraint ensures robust restriction and easy alignment during enclosure final assembly. The modularity of the endcap locks allows for easy installation. Using nylocks and an SS316 ball plunger provides reliable constraints and smooth operation, enhanced by tactile feedback.