We were able to get our first bay and pool tests in San Diego yesterday! We did our first bay test early in the day and then a second in the evening. Each proved to be a great success, as we were able to further test our controls. Before the tests, we encountered a problem with one of the thrusters in which the motor would not start. After getting a new motor from SeaBotix, we resoldered and repotted a connection, which allowed us to get the motor up and running. The bay test was a great opportunity to test this new motor.
After the bay test, we recalibrated the DVL and were even able to squeeze in some time at the hotel pool. This gave us a chance to work a little more on controls and see how these affected our torpedo firing abilities (the results were good!).
Check in tonight or tomorrow morning for an update on today, our first day at TRANSDEC!
This year, the AUVSI RoboSub competition includes the production of a short video that provides insights into the team and how we operate. Here is our entry for this year's competition!
CUAUV is back in San Diego for the 14th annual AUVSI/ONR RoboSub Competition! The first half of our team arrived in beautiful San Diego Sunday night, while the second half arrived Monday night. Since our arrival, we have been diligently working to reassemble the sub and prepare it for the competition ahead.
We're looking forward to seeing all of the great subs at RoboSub this year! Check back tonight and every night following for updates on the team, the competition, and, of course, Drekar!
CUAUV took part in its first lake test of the summer on June 19, 2011 with the Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom Project. This Eco-Cruise focused on showing participants from the Ithaca area the macrophyte growth at a depth of 20 feet. Despite some initial problems with water turbidity, Drekar was able to record video of the lake bottom. Check the Videos page to watch this footage!
On Monday, May 9th, we had our final team social for this semester: a team picnic on the Arts Quad! The Ithaca weather was extremely beautiful, and we had a fun time playing frisbee and soccer and eating cake and desserts! Thanks for an awesome semester and keep up the great work, team!
On Sunday, April 17, 2011, CUAUV held its first control test with Drekar, the new vehicle, at Teagle Pool. Drekar functioned very well, resulting in a quick and smooth test. Vehicle control worked surprisingly well with zero tweaking, and it seems that Drekar is already faster than Tachyon. More testing will be performed next week.
On Friday, April 15th, CUAUV led lab demonstrations with Cornell prospective students. The purpose of the Cornell Admissions Lab Demonstration is to get students excited about Cornell Engineering and encourage them to join engineering project teams in the fall. Hopefully, we see some of the students we met during the fall recruitment next year! Go Big Red!
On Saturday, April 9th, 2011, CUAUV hosted an outreach event at the Ithaca Sciencenter. During our presentation, we led cool demos with the kids, like torpedo launching and image recognition. We were excited to bring hands-on science activities to Ithaca’s youth and look forward to doing more presentations in the near future at the Sciencenter!
CUAUV is proud to announce that this year's competition vehicle will be named Drekar! The name is a collective term for Viking ships, which were slender and flexible boats with symmetrical ends. The team is certain that the new vehicle will live up to its extravagant name.
The Power sub-team has recently finalized the battery pod board. The board has the same core functions as it did last year; however, there is a new battery management chip specifically designed to handle the necessary tasks. In addition, instead of using small fuel gauge IC components, there will be a fully integrated DCDC and a more efficient cell voltage measurement that uses a sample-and-hold measurement style instead of the old voltage divider. The new battery management also has freed up I/O pins, which will allow for future expansion. Moreover, if all goes well, charging the vehicle’s battery will not require a charging station but will be as easy as charging a laptop. Stay tuned to our weekly status updates regarding the recent finish of our design process...
