UWRT October 2022 Newsletter

Oct 1, 2022 | Newsletters | 0 comments

Subteam Updates

Mechanical

  • Smart battery housings have been working with Navionics on the required dimensions and features. They have been researching sizing for o-ring grooves, and have done initial brain storming and concept sketching on various ideas. Some ideas have begun CAD design.
  • 3D Printer team has been in the machine shop frequently over the past couple of weeks, machining the frame and Z-axis components to size with the correct holes. All of the parts were thoroughly cleaned of old grease and grime, and were reoiled. The components were then assembled for a test fit.
  • Actuator team has been looking into various ways of reliably actuating underwater. They tested using a ferrous cage to redirect the permanent magnetic fields away from the IMU, but found it to be unsuccessful. They then have been researching new ways to waterproof motors, and have been testing various servos in the lab.
  • A compliant bracket was designed to mount the lids to the rails of the cage, which connects the parts while still allowing the lid to be put on without additional effort.
  • A new bracket has been designed to mount a thruster to the torpedo force gauge for thruster testing in the future.
  • Chassis team has been defining and weighting the requirements for the project, and have began brainstorming various creative ideas on what a future chassis would look like.
  • Safety box team has been making rapid progress. They selected a box in the lab to house all the required components and have been doing an extensive amount of CAD work for the layout. Some parts have already been 3D printed and tested.

Software

  • Vision: The vision team focused on upgrading the mega computer to Ubuntu 22.04 to support using ROS2 Humble. They also cleaned up the vision scripts and repository post robosub. This allows the team to better document and maintain it in the future.
  • Autonomy: The autonomy team focused on making upgrades to the actuator subsystems on the robot in preparation for the switch to ROS2 Humble. They also built tools to help manage the behaviors and behavior trees they use to tell the robot what to do.
  • Unity Simulator: The Unity Simulator team focused on developing full physics simulation capability inside Mathworks Simulink. They also developed the methods to feed back simulated sensor data from the system into the simulated software. On the Unity side, the team focused on developing out the visuals of the simulator as well as rigging the simulated model of tempest to move according to the physics engine in Simulink.
  • Core: The Core team focused on upgrading the Jetson Orin in the robot to support ROS2 Humble. This included fixing automated build systems to create our software as well as patching the DVL driver package to support the new version of ROS2. Additionally, the Core team mounted the VectorNav IMU, and got the transform frames correct (we promise this time).

Navionics

  • Power team has been working on a revision to the power board to keep Tempest electronics ready until Mark 2
  • Actuator team has been working on their Mark 2 board designs, improving the actuator circuit’s reliability. The dropper circuit has been validated, the torpedo circuit has been created, and the claw circuit is currently being designed to support multiple claws
  • Embedded team has been moving along with the Mark 2 board design, with the majority of the core circuitry completed, with a few remaining components being added as well as connectors being finalized. Improvements to firmware have also been in progress, exposing a simpler interface to software team for interacting with the robot’s actuators
  • Auxiliary team has been working on the various Mark 2 boards, with the ESC board almost complete and the Camera Cage breakout board in progress. They have also been working on cleaning up various aspects of Tempest such as the wiring harness and fixing any parts that got damaged

Business

  • Revising the sponsorship packet to in order to make sure it includes the new RoboSub results and 2022-2023 budgeting
  • Strengthening relationships with corporate sponsors and reaching out to new organizations
  • Also, the business team has reached a record high of 13 members!

Professional Development

No scheduled professional development events for October, but the business team provides professional development advice every Sunday at Sups! Make sure to sign up for a mandatory professional headshot. These will take place on October 23rd, 30th, and November 6th during Sups! Fill out the sign up sheet posted in the “General” channel.

Member of the Month

This month UWRT would love to give a huge shoutout to Marta Koziy!“Marta Koziy deserves this shout-out hands down. Marta has taken initiative and ultimately feels like my right hand. I would be overwhelmed without her.” -Mark Allman

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