Now that the tent is assembled, we can hoist up the gantry, attach the winch system that will be used to raise and lower ENDURANCE out of the "moon pool," secure the safety railings and let the electricians do their thing! The team is getting ready to deploy to Lake Bonney, and since the big push to test build the tent was completed, we decided to divide and conquer. A small group headed back to the tent to work on the tasks mentioned above, while the rest of the team finished smaller projects with the robot.First, I helped attach the C-channel that will be used as a guidance track for the gantry. The gantry is basically a moveable frame that will assist in the hoisting and lowering of ENDURANCE.
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Me helping to secure the C-channel that will be used to guide the gantry back and forth over the moon pool. The gantry is basically a large frame with a winch attached that will be used to hoist ENDURANCE in and out of the water.
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Bob securing the C-channel for the gantry.
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The gantry is raised! This will help hoist ENDURANCE.
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Me helping to hoist the winch system. This proved to be more challenging than the gantry!
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Annika grabs the winch system to help attach it to the gantry.
Once we finished all those jobs, the electricians moved in to wire us up! We will have electricity out in the tent to run computers, lights, and equipment. The "Bot House" is basically ready for the field!
After assisting with the final tasks in the Bot House, I went to the Crary lab test tanks to see what progress was being made with the underwater camera for the sonde and to snap a few pictures. Bart, Kristoff, and Chris were testing the focusing capabilities of the camera for the sonde. It's easier to make adjustments in town in the warmth of the Crary lab than out in the field! The sonde is the "science package," it has all the instrumentation that will be lowered from ENDURANCE and each test site to measure the water conditions in the area. The camera is just one, of many, pieces of equipment to assist with the monitoring!
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Chris prepares the underwater camera on the sonde for a "sneak peak" at what's in the test tank at Crary.
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Chris, Bart, and Kristoff secure the sonde so that it's just barely in the water. The camera housing is still open so they can make adjustments to the lens. They don't want any water getting into the housing!
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Chris adjusts the angle of the sonde so the camera points at a piece of paper at the bottom of the tank. They want to adjust the lens so that the proper distances are in focus.
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The sonde is the "science package." It contains the instruments that will create the 3-D geo-chemical map of Lake Bonney.
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The SCINI robot in the the tank "next door" seems interested in what we are doing! You can find out about SCINI during the Live Chat on Monday, or by reading Cameo Slaybaugh's journal!
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The camera and light system for ENDURANCE - ScoobaDooba Doo isn't too far off (well....)!
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Doo's camera and light system! (OK - not quite so elaborate as ENDURANCE, but still pretty darn good!)
You can also check out my journals and pictures from previous seasons at: http://www.ryejrhigh.org/ellwood