Nine Lamar University engineering students spent the 2017-2018 school year building an underwater robot.
Matthew Beadle, a senior from the electrical engineering program collaborated with eight mechanical engineering seniors -- Luke Placette, Edgar Delacruz, Louis Bryant, Adebayo Onafuwa, Brice Evans, Huy Pham, Joseph Schoenfeld, and Kevin Dang -- on the
Beadle and his team spent over seven months researching and fabricating the ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle), with the majority of that time spent building out the programming that would allow the robot to operate hands-free. In fact, some of the major technical achievements listed involved programming such as writing multiple programs in C++, embedding Linux systems, and interfacing hardware and software.
“Seeing it work for the first time was the best part,” said Beadle.
Project parameters meant that the ROV was expected to satisfy a number of constraints and perform highly specific tasks. It was required to be capable of real-time video feedback and able to withstand pressure at roughly 3 meters.
“Underwater robots are being used extensively in oil and gas exploration, deep sea drilling, search and rescue operations, ocean research, and salvage operations,” says Dr. Kendrick Aung, a mechanical engineering professor at Lamar University.
Similar ROVs have been used to locate airplane wreckages, returning their engines to the surface, installing or recovering seismometers, and installing tidal turbines and instrumentation to monitor surrounding environments.
"The project involved control of motors, sensors and a robotic arm using a microcontroller and a computer module, acquisition of image data from a camera and display of the acquired images on a computer as well as the construction of a waterproof frame for the underwater robot," said Dr. Cagatay Tokgoz, electrical engineering professor at Lamar University. "Such a multidisciplinary project is highly beneficial to students in terms of applying the knowledge, experience and engineering skills they gained throughout their undergraduate studies at Lamar University, and combining them with those of students from another department."
