Week 9 Testing in the Rec Center Pool

We finally tested the submersible in the pool.  With some added flotation from pool noodles, we were able to achieve neutral buoyancy.  Furthermore, the electronics on the submersible are working perfectly.  Please visit the Testing Page for  more pictures and video of our robot in the pool.

Week 8-9 Progress Update

Entering our scheduled lab time this week, we had finally completed the wiring of our submersible. Nevertheless, we needed to make a few minor adjustments regarding the order/grouping of the wires connected to specific motors.  All we had to do was cut the zip ties on the chassis holding down the wires and move them and then re-zip tie them.  During lab, we also mounted the camera to the top part of the chassis of the submersible.

During our midweek meet up, we finished the control box by placing the wired switches attached to the tether on the metal case and then putting the plastic enclosure over them.  Below is a picture of the control box being finished.

Since the control board is now completed, the only things left to do are to attach the switches in the control box to power and to add flotation to the chassis of the submersible to make it neutrally buoyant. In order to test the buoyancy, we are testing the submersible in Drexel's swimming pool on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.  Video will be uploaded.  Furthermore, connecting the control box to the power source will occur before then.

Below is a picture of the submersible to date.  This picture does not include flotation as it will be added on Wednesday.

Week 7-8 Progress Update

During our scheduled lab time this week, we completed multiple tasks. First we completed the soldering of the wires to the three switches which would control the motors of our submersible. After this, two members of our group started to zip-tie all the wires to the chassis of our submersible in an orderly fashion. They also began to designate which grouping of two motors would be controlled by which switch. While this was going on, the other two group members began the construction of our control board in which the switches would be placed and the movement of our submersible would be controlled. During our midweek meeting, we plan on furthering the construction of the control board as well as completing the wiring.

Below is a picture of the beginning of the construction of the control board.  In this picture, the holes for the switches are being drilled.

Week 6-7 Progress Update

This week was another very busy one for us. During our midweek meeting, we successfully made the tether for the submersible. This was a very tedious and slightly grueling task as we needed to measure out six 50 feet long cables for each motor, which would act as a tether for our submersible. Once we had done all this, we marked off the ends of each cable in order to make it much easier for us to distinguish between each one when it came time to solder the wires to the switches which would control our actual motors, a task that we completed during our scheduled lab time.   We zip tied the six strands together so that they would form one large tether.

Week 5-6 Progress Update

This week we made even more progress in attaching the motors to the chassis of our submersible by successfully attaching the four base motors. As for the other two motors, we plan on attaching those via zip-ties. Since we also finally received the camera in the mail, we decided to test it out during lab and were actually very surprised with the quality of the camera. We started to brainstorm the best ways to attach the camera on to the chassis, as it needs to be attached somewhere near the top of the submersible to achieve the best results. We expect to start on all the wiring that our project entails during our midweek meeting.

Week 4-5 Progress Update

This week we accomplished a lot.  During lab, we permanently affixed the chassis of the submersible together with PVC glue.  We also worked on making brackets to mount the motors with.  During our post lab meet up, we continued working on the brackets to mount the motors with.  We finished most of the brackets and successfully mounted one of the motors to the chassis.  We also drilled all of the holes in the chassis where the other motors will be mounted.  Additionally, we got the camera that we ordered from Cabela's in the mail on Tuesday evening.  We also ordered the wire for our tether and are expecting it in the mail next week.  Our goal for the upcoming week is to finish mounting the motors and check out the camera that came in the mail.

Week 3-4 Progress Update

This past week has been a very eventful one for us. First and foremost, we finally obtained not only the motors that we are going to use for our submersible, but we also bought the PVC that is going to be used towards construction as well.  We decided to stick with the 1/2" PVC that Sea Perch includes in the kit.  During our lab section, we tested out the motors in a sink to get a good idea of just how powerful the motors we bought were and the results were satisfying. We then went ahead to actually start cutting up the PVC into parts that would be used to build the submersible and went ahead to build the chassis of the submersible. During the lab, we also brainstormed how we would attach the motors to the chassis and decided it would be best to use some sort of bracket made of sheet metal to attach the motors to the corners of our chassis. We started cutting up and bending the sheet metal into the desired shape that we wanted during our mid-week meet up.

This is a video of one of the bilge pumps that we are using as motors on our submersible.  We tested it in a sink in lab this week.  We are very pleased with the strength of the pump.  It pumps at a rate of 350 gallons per hour.

Submersible chassis with four motors in their approximate location.  Chassis is made of 1/2" PVC.  The motors are the same bilge pumps demonstrated in the video above. 

Week 2-3 Progress Update

During week two's lab, we decided on which motors we would use. We also came up with a few ideas of what we were going to use to actually construct our entire project and the logistics of how we would go about doing it. We decided that it would be best to use six motors; four of which would be used to go forward/backward as well as steer the submersible and the other other two which would be used to move the submersible up or down. We decided during out week three meeting that it would be best for us to forgo our previous idea of controlling the vertical (up/down) movement of the submersible which needed an air pump to perform the task. During this meeting, we also planned out and strategized our plan for the next couple of weeks which include attainment of materials and actual construction. For more on our designs/ideas, please click here.

Welcome to our blog!  

This blog was created to track the progress of a freshman design team working on an underwater submersible that is going to be used to collect water samples and data about the water supply in rivers.  This freshman design group is studying at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Our group members are Mary Conrad, Benjamin Schanck, Tayo Kuku, and Brian Evans. Our faculty advisors are Caroline Schauer, Marjorie Austero, and Jennifer Atchison.  More information on each of our group members or our advisors can be found on the page entitled, "Biographies."