Testing Procedures

Testing Type: Exploratory

Testing Stage: Preliminary

State of Solution: Stationary

Condition of Testing Stage: Classroom

Tools and Equipment reguired: Paper, pencil, model magic, cabinet handles, wooden dowels
 

Testing Procedures:

1.      Draw alternate solutions

2.      Choose one alternate solution to model after

3.      Model parts after drawing

4.      Discuss functions with teachers

5.      Re-design model after discussion

 

Testing Type: Assessment

Testing Stage: Preliminary

State of Solution: Stationary

Condition of Testing Stage: Lab setting

Tools and Equipment reguired: Aluminum arm, controls, metal hand piece, wires, batteries, hydraulic system
 

Testing Procedures:

1.      Complete arm structure

2.      Connect wires throughout arm into metal hand pieces

3.      Connect all wires to appropriate controls

4.      Move wrist joint up and down

5.      If joint doesn’t move then find problem and fix the problem
 

Testing Type: Assessment

Testing Stage: Secondary

State of Solution: Stationary

Condition of Testing Stage: Lab setting

Tools and Equipment reguired: Aluminum arm, controls, metal hand piece, wires, batteries
 

Testing Procedures:

1.      Connect all wires throughout arm and hand

2.      Connect all wires to appropriate controls
 

 

Testing Type: Assessment

Testing Stage: Secondary

State of Solution: Stationary

Condition of Testing Stage: Dry

Tools and Equipment required: Aluminum arms, controls, metal hand piece, wires, hydraulic pumps
 

 

Testing Procedures:

1. Push water through hydraulic pumps so hand closes

2. Pull water out through pumps so hand opens

 

 

Testing Type: Validation

Testing Stage: Primary

State of Solution: Stationary

Condition of Testing Stage: Wet

Tools and Equipment required: Pool, aluminum arms, hydraulic tubes, pumps, controls

 

Testing Procedures:

1. While underwater, push water from surface to underwater device

2. See if claw pieces close

3. Extract water

4. See if claw pieces open

 

 

Research

Hydraulics

Hydraulics deals with the mechanical properties of liquids. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control, and transmission of power by the use of pressurized liquids. The basic idea behind any hydraulic system is very simple: Force that is applied at one point is transmitted to another point using an incompressible fluid. The fluid is almost always an oil of some sort. The force is almost always multiplied in the process.

High-pressure oil from the pump is shown in light blue, and low-pressure oil returning to the tank is shown in yellow. Click the button to activate the piston!
In the figure above and to the right you can see how the valve can apply both forward and backward pressure to the piston. The valve used here, by the way, is referred to as a "spool valve" because of its resemblance to a spool from a spool of thread.





Mechanics












Claws

Developmental work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alternate Solutions

This alternate solution has three prongs and a ball joint that can swivel 360 degrees. The fingers will close and open with a remote control.

This alternate solution has two prongs and a ball joint that can swivel 360 degrees. The fingers will close and open with a remote control.

This alternate solution has two prongs. It has no ball joint. The fingers will open and close by a pulley system above the surface.

This alternate solution has two prongs. It has no ball joint. The fingers will open and close by a hydraulic system consisting of syringes filled with liquids.

Specifications & Limitations

Specifications:
The solution must be/do/have:

The device must be waterproof

The device must be user friendly

The device must be operated from the surface

The device must have a method to retrieve rings

The device must have a method to release rings into goal

The device must have moving parts


Limitations:
The device is limited to pvc, metal, plastics
The device is limited to operator ability
The device is limited to operator age of young adult
The device is limited to refraction from water
The device is limited to distance of four to five feet below surface
The device is limited to not being dragged via tether
The device is limited to the thickness and size of ring
The device is limited to size of the hull
The device is limited to 12-volt power source
The device is limited to a 10-amp max fuse
The device is limited to stock SeaPerch motors

Video

This video represents what I am going to have to accomplish during our challenge.

 

 

Works Cited

Works Cited

ARL Hosts SeaPerch challenge. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net          /e2/c/images/2011/07/20/213261/size0.jpg

AUVSI Foundation, The. (2012). The 2013 National SeaPerch Challenge. Retrieved March 30, 2013,   

     from http://www.seaperch.org/seaperch_challenge.
Brain, Marshall. "How Hydraulic Machines Work." Howstuffworks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Cleaning the Oil Spill.  [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from  http://www.consumerwarning  
     network.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/audubon-pic.jpg
Deep Water Transfer.  [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.seaperch.org/challenge 
     _rules.
Duck Being Cleaned After Oil Spill. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://static.ddmcdn
     .com/gif/cleaning-oil-spill-2.jpg
First Underwater Robotics Program in AV. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.
     theavtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Underwater-robotics-Joe-Walker.jpg
Kids Building SeaPerch. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.seaperch.org/
      action/image/thumbnail?size=416&img=HSolderingDee.jpg

Learned Lessons at BP Oil Spill. [Photograph]. Retrieved   March 30, 2013, from http://www.earned-                         value.com/2011/03/learned-lessons-at-bp-oil-spill-  and.html.
Obstacle Course.  [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.seaperch.org/challenge_rules
Otter. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.perlgurl.org/archives/blogpics/otter1.jpg
SeaPerch Obstacle Course. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.flickr.com/
photos/ccom_jhc/8050712410/sizes/m/in/photostream/

SeaPerch Team. [Photograph]. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from:http://www.dsatulsa.org/default.asp?                       newsid=91
Steven Smith Pulls ROV out of Water. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.washington      post.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/04/12/Others/Images/2012-04-12/DSC_3174_            3342 67641.jpg.
Wet n' Wild with SeaPerch. [Photograph]. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://science.dodlive.mil/files/            2010/10/ SeaPerch.jpg.

Background Information







SeaPerch is an innovative tool used to make underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles. SeaPerch is also used to teach skills used in everyday marine based jobs. These include building vessels, problem-solving, maneuvering, and reacting to new challenges. SeaPerch is a way for people to understand how today's scientists are exploring and working in the unseen depths of the ocean.







Real life application



Underwater obstacle course



SeaPerch incorporates STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) into the program. This is a way for students to become experienced in these fields and have a basic knowledge of what they might want to do in the future. 



The SeaPerch challenge will be held at the Neptune Aquatic Center in Neptune, NJ sometime around June. At the competition, an obstacle course will be in place for the ROV to maneuver around. The arm attached to the ROV will need to pick up plastic rings from one place, then put them onto another.



Neptune Aquatic Center 1

Neptune Aquatic Center 2










SeaPerch can be used as a basic understanding of building an underwater robot. Underwater robots can be used for many life applications. During the BP oil spill in 2010, underwater ROV were used to clean up the oil and put a cap on underwater mains. 

Neptune Aquatic Center 3

Neptune Aquatic Center 4





 

The SeaPerch challenge is directed towards high school students, but anyone could do the challenge. Building a SeaPerch robot can be a good experience for any individual starting out in an engineering career. These young adults building SeaPerch ROVs could one day grow up to be the engineers that build robots that cap underwater fuel lines more efficiently or robots that can complete a surgery to make tiny incisions.





Steve Smith pulls ROV out of water

Teacher working with student

Instructors could use SeaPerch as a way of teaching students about mechanics and how different parts work together. The design kit is inexpensive and comes with all required parts. Children would be able to learn more easily by having an example at their fingertips. This project could be a stepping stone into the world of robotics for many younger kids, and older ones too.

Being assigned SeaPerch kit



Teacher helping student with SeaPerch






 

The main reason that SeaPerch needs to be addressed is because not very many people know about the challenge. This project could help many students who have an interest in engineering get some experience.

Underwater obstacle course



SeaPerch Obstacle Course

The SeaPerch challenge consists of two different tasks that must be completed. The first is an obstacle course in which the vehicle must maneuver through 5- 22" diameter hoops. The other task is a ring transfer. The operators must retrieve small rings from racks and place them into a designated area some distance away.

Ring Obstacle course

Ring transfer

Stake holders involved in this product can range from people to animals. In order for SeaPerch to be successful, people need to actually buy and make the product. This is the starting point for most robotics. Students who make the SeaPerch ROV could go on to make more complex robots in future. Since SeaPerch can complete jobs such as cleaning up oil spills and helping remediate other situations, clean up crews where oil spills have happened would most likely use these robots.

Workers cleaning oil spill

Other individuals that could benefit from robotics such as SeaPerch could be animals that are effected by oil spills.

Design Brief

SeaPerch ROV Design Brief

Group: To design, construct, and test an underwater ROV that can complete the tasks of the SeaPerch Challenge in the designated pool between four and five feet below the surface so that two pilots can operate the device simultaneously during a timed event to score points.

Individual: To design, construct, and test a waterproof mechanical device for instillation on a ROV hull and later use for pilot to retrieve plastic rings from a stand four to five feet below the surface in the designated pool and release them into a milk crate six feet from the ring stand and one to five feet below the surface of the water during a timed event to score points.