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Antarctic Undersea ROV

Hi Mindy, we have just finished reading your journals. the students are very interested in your expeditiopn, especially the ROV. Here are some of their questions:

Haley: How deep was the pool you were training in?

Erin:How much does the ROV weigh?

Andrew: How Much did it cost to make the ROV?

Devin: How long did it take to design and make the first ROV?

Sam: Who first thought of building it?

Alyssa: How cold is the pool you practice in?

Natash: How long can a diver stay in the cold water in Antarctica?

Stephon: How many years has the ROV been around?

Isaiah: How many dives will you make?

Fri, 09/28/2007 - 19:20

Mindy Bell

Hi Redd School students,What great questions! Unfortunately, I don't know the answers to those questions, so I will be learning along with you when another member of the team responds!
I talked to the team and it is going to take a week or so for you to get answers as we leave in less than 2 days so everyone is SUPER busy - and then we will be in transit - so hang in there and we will respond as soon as we can! 

Wed, 10/03/2007 - 14:48

Stacy Kim

Hi Lollie and Haley and Erin and Andrew and Devin and Sam and Alyssa and Natash and Stephon and Isaiah!Great questions, thank you for sending them! Answers to your specific questions are below, and you can see more details at http://scini.mlml.calstate.edu
Haley: How deep was the pool you were training in?The test tank at MBARI is 10 m (33 ft.) deep. We used the tank both for doing SCINI test dives and our initial SCUBA training dives. This is as deep as the kelp forest tank at Monterey Bay Aquarium!
Erin:How much does the ROV weigh?SCINI weighs 16 kg (35 lbs) in air. But in water, SCINI weighs nothing - we ballast her to make her neutrally buoyant so that she only needs to use power to move, not to stay afloat or to stay down.
Andrew: How Much did it cost to make the ROV?We are trying very hard to make SCINI as inexpensive as possible, by using off-the-shelf parts whenever possible instead of spending money to design and build new pieces. We have spent $30,000 on parts so far. For comparison, the commercially available VideoRay ROV costs about the same, though it won’t fit down a 15 cm hole.
Devin: How long did it take to design and make the first ROV?The idea started 3 years ago. Bob built a proof-of-concept vehicle in 2005 and Stacy submitted a proposal to build it, and now we’re here to test it for the first time in Antarctica!
Sam: Who first thought of building it?SCINI was the brainchild of Bob Zook, who is continuing to build it.
Alyssa: How cold is the pool you practice in?The pool in Monterey is a toasty 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit). We were uncomfortably warm and sweaty in our drysuits but it was very helpful to practice moving around with all that bulky gear on. Our new Antarctic divers, Marcus and Nick, will find out in the next few days how useful that practice was when they dive for the first time in Antarctic waters!
Natash: How long can a diver stay in the cold water in Antarctica?After an hour, I am so cold that my hands are not very functional and I can’t really do anything useful anymore. But it differs for different divers, and also depending on the tasks you need to accomplish. I’ve never heard of anyone staying in more than 90 minutes.
Stephon: How many years has the ROV been around?The SCINI ROV is brand new, this is our first season using it! But Remotely Operated Vehicles were first developed for military work in the 1960’s, and for industry in the 1980’s. Scientific use started in 1988.
Isaiah: How many dives will you make?We plan to make 30 dives ROV dives and 30 SCUBA dives. The scuba dives will only be about an hour long (see Natash’s question above) but the ROV dives may be 24 hours long! Since the ROV is controlled from the surface, we can switch out pilots and navigators every couple of hours and just keep working. SCINI doesn’t get cold like a diver!