Let's talk underwater...

Greg Jones has asked me to assist him on his capstone idea ROV Labs. This is an interesting idea with a lot of promise.

The draw to this project comes on two fronts. The entire intent for the project is an educational outreach for field trips, and classes wanting to understand about underwater life and the use of submersibles in research. Once groups get an understanding of how the technology works they are allowed to work in groups to assemble their own submersible out of a provided kit. They will put together a working ROV that they will then get to test. The ideas behind how the ROVs work will be discussed and groups can take those ideas online too an ROV at the aquarium in Boothbay Harbor, ME. This ROV will be accessible online where students can queue up and control it real time. After they have experienced building their own ROV and controlling the aquariums, students will have the opportunity to provide feedback and alter the design of the online ROV. Iterations will be presented on the website to see how the community of students have adapted the design to try to improve upon what's been done before.

Development of the control system for the ROV and the integration of that system online will be a great technical achievement personally. A working prototype of the ROV and the computer control system is the goal for the end of the fall semester.