Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 07:09
Forums
Lake Ecosystems in Antarctica

Robin & Cameo,

 
I am so excited about your ROV projects that I have talked to the robotics team at my school and they are interested in building one for my expedition on the Oden.  I have an underwater video camera on a 150 foot tether and the team thinks they can add propellers so that we can fly it under the sea ice. 

My questions for you and your classes are:

1.    What do you want your robot to do?  Do you have a set of goals or experiments?
2.    Are you planning to fly the robot in real time using your monitor? 
3.    What size/weight limits are you putting on the project to make it portable?
4.    Will the robot be able to carry/do anything or will it be for video only?

 

Sun, 06/01/2008 - 03:01

Robin Ellwood

We are thrilled you also want to build a robot with your students; we are having a blast and making progress! To answer your questions:1. We want our robot to ‘swim' underwater taking pictures/video of the environment below the ice of the Dry Valley Lakes as well as oceanic sea-life in McMurdo Sound. To experiment and test the robot we are first going to submerge it in a bucket then bring it to a fresh water pool and swim WITH it. After this, we will launch it off the beach in our town at a place called Pulpitt Rock.2. Yes, and we will record it.3. It exceeds the regular weight limit so we must get special cargo permission for transport to Antarctica. Also the dimensions are roughly one and a half feet by one and a half feet by ten inches.4. As of now it's sole purpose is video but we may attach temperature probes among other monitoring devices.