The Underwater Robotics Team has kept up progress this semester in spite of the transition to online meetings. The team’s consistent meetings and drive to stay involved has led to a redesigned electrical system, improved navigation and task management systems, and a fully designed new vehicle that is being manufactured. The team has also been busy with a couple of new initiatives this semester to work around the COVID restrictions and improve community engagement.
COVID-19 has presented many challenges to many individuals and groups. The Underwater Robotics Team is no different, however, through it all, the team managed to stay active and expand its reach to new heights. The Underwater Robotics Team has been very active throughout the tenure of COVID-19 and the team continues to reach milestones and tackle obstacles, all while the global pandemic rages. UWRT has been working on a new robot, and with any new robot, the primary focus of the team is broken down into the design of the physical body of the robot, the electronics and internals, and the software and controls. This work has been done through a combination of weekly Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings, interspersed with larger team meetings so each sub-team can involve the rest of the team in what they have been working on.
The mech team having a socially distanced meeting.
All three sub-teams have been able to face the adversity and improve during this time. For example, the electrical sub-team has now embraced the SCRUM methodology for project management which has led to many more completed projects as well as a strong vision for the future. The software team has had a smooth transition to all online meetings because of the hard work of the members in creating a comprehensive onboarding program for new members. The mechanical team had their work cut out for them due to much of their work being in-person manufacturing. Even with this setback, they were able to create many more designs for UWRT’s new platform, Project Titan. In addition to this upkeep of efficiency, the Underwater Robotics Team has been able to connect with the community on campus better than ever.
To stimulate this community involvement, one of the things that the Underwater Robotics Team has done is it has started a community workshop program. This workshop aims to educate students of the Ohio State campus on engineering basics with focus on robotics. An example of this is the workshop from November. This workshop focused on controls and how to effectively control motors. The team plans to continue with a workshop for every month of the academic school year. The next one is in January and is about Solidworks!
The controls workshop, led by Vishnu Dasaka
Through this push for community involvement, the Underwater Robotics Team has designed a new program to help engage 8th grade students in STEM education. This program is called the Stembot Workshop, a 4-5 week summer workshop/camp which allows underprivileged students that do not have access to afterschool clubs for STEM education to come and pick up those skills free of charge. While the program is already designed and the schools have been selected, it is still looking for sponors to help fund the kits that would be used to support each classroom. The program was designed to be extremely affordable with each kit -one kit per classroom- costing around $ 2500. This program is planned for Fall 2021.
The team has worked diligently and has proven that even a global pandemic cannot limit our possibilities. The team worked through several projects this semester and each one has had its own challenges and provided the team with new ways to grow and learn. The Underwater Robotics Team certainly has endured some growing pains, but through it all the team has triumphed.