Robert Crimmins
Mr. Cuttrell and Ms. Green
Systems Engineering II
8 March 2012
Self and Design
Evaluation
The
Underwater Remote Operated Vehicle had an overall design challenge to complete
the British Petroleum experiment and oil spill. The task has three subdivisions
that include dropping a weight on a pressure plate to stop the “flow” of oil
from a PVC pipe underwater. Then, the group has to pick up a PVC coupler to
place over the open pipe where the oil, represented by ping pong balls, was
being extracted into the water at a steady rate. Lastly, return to the surface
and collect the “oil” into a cavity to bring back to the beginning deployment
area. Construction was divided between three engineers: civil, mechanical, and
electrical. Stephanie Ross was the mechanical engineer, Daniel Marketta was the
civil engineer, and I was the electrical engineer. We each had specific
criteria that we established for ourselves to meet in order to complete the
task at hand successfully. My personal design brief was “Design, construct, optimize, and operate the electronics
for an Underwater Remote Operated Vehicle for a team of students to complete an
oil spill capping and cleanup simulation underwater that demands the device to
move in three axes, have modulating motor speeds, and conduct movements in the
most efficient way possible.”
All of the team’s potential
solutions were utilized within the design. Daniel Marketta used a concept of a
PVC cube layout with cross beams to mount all hardware onto the ROV. This was a
functional and very versatile design. Stephanie Ross chose a scissor mechanism
for an arm that can open and close with nets attached to it in order to
encapsulate the oil and pick up the components. My aspect I contributed to was
a land control box that allowed use of a Playstation Two controller for
operation and an underwater cavity which contained all of the necessary
electronics to propel and operate the ROV with utmost capability.
There were not many discrepancies
between my original design and the final modeled design except for general
overbearing. I acknowledged that the project could be completed with simpler
electronics and more primitive ideas that I already mastered. I wanted to
personally better myself and improve in the field I want to major in to expand
my knowledge. Time was the biggest constraint, more than the theoretical
workings of the ROV. My original design brief discussed a land unit which had
ports for fuses, power input, tether output, and inputs as well as outputs for
sensors and accessories. The underwater unit contained the same motor driver
specified in my design brief. I did alter my design during the construction
process by using a 3rd party product purchased at Walmart as opposed
to the name brand item that had to be ordered online. This was a problem of
laziness and careless compromise. This was a fatal error on my part, but no
electronic functions or components were harmed making this decision and the correct
equipment was ordered to be installed on the unit.
As of
right now, the ROV in its current state has a few flaws, but should not be of
concern. The ROV has a problem right now with the waterproof cavity, but will
be corrected in the future properly and will meet the needs of the ROV. Besides this flaw, there are not too many
other problems between the electrical functionality of the design. The camera
and propulsion systems are operational, but need to be waterproofed in order to
function on the ROV.
There
are no unsolved design problems that exist in the design. The main components
that my design encompasses include propulsion, controllers, and electronics
between any of the interface devices, camera, and tether management. Between
these individual components, the propulsion is working on land effortlessly;
the controllers are providing feedback and are working correctly as expected.
The electronics between the all components (including the transmission through
the tether are still acting as tested in the lab correctly and functionally.
The interface devices, mostly the PlayStation Two Controller is providing
feedback accurately and at a very fast rate which surpasses the designs
expectations. Lastly, the camera operates correctly and without any problems.
Some
suggestions for possible improvement to my existing design would be lessen the
complexity for a project of this sort. Sadly with the time constraints, it’s
very tough to perform all of the operations, research, and construction time
needed to make a design like mine operate correctly. Although I think this is
placing a threshold on the students and capping their capability to learn and
expand throughout the systems engineering course, it would yield a higher grade
in the class. It would also meet the course standards and approach the rubric
grading more appropriately. Further improvements would be generally more
professional deadweight and more accurately created parts. For example, using a
3D rapid prototyping printer, the faces of the project box (the land unit)
could be printed at a cheaper cost, more universal material, and would be
accurate within one fifth of a millimeter. This precision makes the
construction much cleaner and more accurate. In addition, the AutoCAD drawings
had to be done anyway, so merely making them a solid and using a 3D printer to
perform the material processing would be more efficient. In addition,
electronics can be mounted on custom mounting hardware to fit inside of a
smaller box. This would allow a more professional and tight construction to
maximize utilization of space. This would allow the underwater cavity to be
smaller, hence less buoyancy, yielding less deadweight and a simpler design.
Although the equipment in the shop is very useful and can be used in addition
to a 3D Printer, a rapid prototyping machine like a 3D printer would definitely
be beneficial to a student replicating this project in a more efficient manner.
There
were many successes that were encountered during the phases of the project. The
most successful would be in the brainstorming, formulation of ideas, and
calculations portion. According to all of the physics, which only holds true in
an idealistic world, all functions and aspects of the design are meant to work.
Due to availability of parts, it was difficult to meet the needs of the physics
to allow the hardware to work, but they did. The camera enclosure, once
corrected, worked perfectly. The electronics all worked correctly on land so
the compilation of the code and construction of all the electrical components
worked 100% without problems. These successes were great until we reached my
poor compromise decision in choosing parts. Overall though, the design was very
much successful and should be abided by to all specifications and details in
order to achieve the best outcome.
Setbacks that occurred
during the project would include the time constraints as well as the material
constraints. Between the hardware stores available and the price of shipping,
it seems more favorable to shop locally and to consider compromises within
anybody’s head. This is a very poor mindset and should not be revisited after
completing this project. Some of the setbacks though include the problem with
the waterproof qualities of the underwater cavity. In addition, the duration or
length of time required to receive parts was also a minor setback to forwarding
construction. The prices of the parts were generally more favorable online, but
compromise was a temptation due to the shipping rates and length of time to
receive the product. This impinged on the construction speed of the project and
slowed down the group, which is something we could not afford. The paperwork
aspect of it, including the calculations, were all performed, and conducted
without delay and there was no setbacks whatsoever that incurred during those
steps.
I
have taken a lot out of my setbacks. There were many important aspects that I
concluded from this project in every stage and form. One thing I noted was the
length of time it took for components to dry. This made the components
unworkable for a duration of a day and completely ate away valuable time.
Slotted construction or alternative means of construction should be utilized in
order to meet the deadlines. In addition, I learned that I shouldn’t be working
towards deadlines. In my group, we really worked towards deadlines as opposed
to be being ahead of the game, and when setbacks occurred, they harmed us. It
should be noted that tasks should be performed ahead of time expecting setbacks
and problems because they will occur even if the calculations don’t support it.
In addition to all of these lessons, I learned that I should never compromise
the correct item with an alright item at a convenience. Chances are, they are
too good to be true. These compromises place detrimental strains on the design
and puts possible failure into play. All aspects of a conceptually working
design should be met in order to work completely without problems. Of course
knowing that problems will occur, it makes more sense to fix problems on an
original design, instead of stacking problems on compromises and changes to the
design. Lastly, I learned that having the proper equipment or access to new
technology including the 3D Printer could be beneficial to completing work at a
faster rate and having less human error and more accuracy placed into the
design. These designs are very delicate and human error should be avoided at
all cost, while precision and accuracy should be a quality maintained one
hundred percent of the time.
There
weren’t many concepts that had to be learned outside the scope of the project.
There were simple things such as understanding how to use equipment in the shop
and understanding how to manipulate materials in more efficient manners.
Considering the scope of the project didn’t include using your own work for
AutoCAD or using the equipment that we used, any time put out of the way to use
those tools was lessons learned outside the scope of the project. I think this
is part of general engineering though. I think that these tools are essential
for the project’s completion and success. These are not required in the scope
directly, but they are definitely implied discretely.
Overall,
this projected helped improve many personal qualities that will help me through
my career and life in general. One of the first concepts that were heavily
defined throughout the project was sets of problem solving skills. “What is the
most efficient way to drill these holes and get these shapes cut out of this
acrylic,” was the first question I asked in the construction process. This is
an aspect of problem solving. You’re taking a look at what you have available,
and what tools are within your scope, and you need to determine “how am I going
to get over this obstacle?” In addition, my communication skills were improved.
There was an incident where Stephanie needed a motor to control her scissor
mechanism for her arm, and I didn’t take an addition 4th motor into
consideration for my electronics. This demanded that I needed an additional
component to operate the arm, but without communication skills, the design
would have failed. So effective verbal communication and clear explanation are
very important to the success and cohesiveness of the project. These factors
all contribute to the overall build quality and how effective the design is.
Communication was also expressed visually. Through drawing, we had to draw
specific and precise AutoCAD Drawings in order to cover ever component of the
electronics. Through sending screenshots of AutoCAD drawings to my mentor, I
discovered he had a hard time understanding how to read them. My annotation
methods and my layout of my drawing were confusing. This showed me that I
needed to sharpen and view what the end consumer is seeing. This quality is
very important for effective communication as well. Lastly, communication can
be in written forms as well. When writing emails to my mentor, I had to use
better terminology to describe exactly what component I was talking about.
Using unclear or brackish descriptions, my mentor was lost in helping me. He
didn’t exactly understand what I was trying to accomplish. This was when I
acknowledged the hurdle of written communication and its effects if conducted
poorly. Finally, on more than one
occasion, I had to sharpen my organizational traits that defined my character.
I noticed it was very organized to go to my team mate’s blogs in order to cross
reference what our designs entail. This was very important to update on a
normal basis so each member didn’t get too far without a discrepancy occurring.
On our blogs, we essentially used file management. We had to place all of our
files in convenient locations that way each member, including the instructors,
would be able to find our content and overview our work. The only other quality
improved by this project would be time management. This is one of the most
important qualities that were observed and one of the most important that I’ll
be able to walk away with. This aspect of the project was challenged on a daily
basis. There were so many deadlines and so little room for error that we had to
work ahead of schedule. When problems occurred, a chain reaction of nasty
problems came along and harmed us in furthering our project to completion. But,
all of the qualities mentioned previously will be utilized for the rest of my
life in the work place, educational intuitions, in clubs, in personal areas,
and professional environments.
There
are many skills and knowledge I will be utilizing outside of the Marine
Academy. The skills I learned throughout MAST including isometric drawing, planning,
organizational planning, AutoCAD drawings, design process and any other aspect
of designing and prototyping will be used again. The skills that were refined
included my drawing skills, communication skills, verbal skills, hardware
skills, material processing skills, and my tool usage skills. All of these are
very important for prototyping and engineering in general. These are used on an
average daily basis and they are the backbone to further advancement and
development. A lot of knowledge will also be taken away from the Marine
Academy. Both course required knowledge, and personal effort knowledge will be
utilized past the confinements of campus. From the first portfolio to the
completion of my senior project, documentation and the knowledge of how to set
one up will be crucial in the future of where I would like to be. In addition,
the knowledge I learned about using tools, software, and equipment such as the
workshop tools, AutoCAD, and other equipment will be used on a daily basis for
modeling and design prototyping. Lastly, the personal efforts I did for
innovation projects such as programming, and material management and design
collaboration. Overall, I think something very essential I am going to walk
away from this project with is the knowledge of how to do the design process,
how crucial it is to perform calculations to back up what was drawn from the
design, and how the design is carried out for completion. This whole concept of
using the design process yields a powerful, successful, and unconquerable
process. The way the design process is set up, is so that the design flaws are
extracted early, and that the success of the design will prevail based on
calculations and observations.
