Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)
Senior Capstone Project
- Worked in a small team sponsored by UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory to develop an AUV
- Gained experience designing a project with strict requirements for capabilities, size and price
- Required frequent communication with sponsors, stringent design reviews, rapid prototyping, working closely with purchasing, and managing a strict budget.
- Mechatronics project: required mechanical design, programming using Arduino, electrical components and sensors
- Setup proportional controller using an Arduino Mega to maintain trajectory in desired deadband
- Inertial measurement unit (IMU) and 2mm resolution pressure sensor used for heading and depth inputs
- Servo driven steering linkage to control fin actuation as output
- Bluetooth capabilities to upload code modifications
- Leveraged tools such as 3D printers, welders, fiber glass, saws, drills, hand tools to prototype and manufacture parts
- Designed to accept heading and depth inputs and drive in straight line without human intervention
- Deployed in open water for one test day, as shown in provided link
Photos of our build, along with a video I made of our test day can be seen below.
- Worked in a small team sponsored by UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory to develop an AUV
- Gained experience designing a project with strict requirements for capabilities, size and price
- Required frequent communication with sponsors, stringent design reviews, rapid prototyping, working closely with purchasing, and managing a strict budget.
- Mechatronics project: required mechanical design, programming using Arduino, electrical components and sensors
- Setup proportional controller using an Arduino Mega to maintain trajectory in desired deadband
- Inertial measurement unit (IMU) and 2mm resolution pressure sensor used for heading and depth inputs
- Servo driven steering linkage to control fin actuation as output
- Bluetooth capabilities to upload code modifications
- Leveraged tools such as 3D printers, welders, fiber glass, saws, drills, hand tools to prototype and manufacture parts
- Designed to accept heading and depth inputs and drive in straight line without human intervention
- Deployed in open water for one test day, as shown in provided link
Photos of our build, along with a video I made of our test day can be seen below.
Ocean Research Opportunity and Small Project
I was fortunate to be one of 30 people invited nationwide to go onboard a research vessel:
https://www.uwb.edu/news/may-2018/underwater-volcano
This was an amazing opportunity for me, as it gave me an opportunity to work alongside engineers from UW's Applied Physics Lab, and experience ocean engineering first hand in the Summer between my Junior and Senior year. Our leg of the cruise was focused on retrieving a shallow profiler along the axial seamount that had been ripped out of place by a getting caught in a fishing net (more details on this can be seen in following slides). This specific profiler utilized a two-legged mooring, which hadn't been deployed in many years. A fellow student and I were tasked with documenting the process with photo and video, and creating an instructional video for future engineers deploying these two-legged moorings. The shortened version of this video can be seen below:
https://www.uwb.edu/news/may-2018/underwater-volcano
This was an amazing opportunity for me, as it gave me an opportunity to work alongside engineers from UW's Applied Physics Lab, and experience ocean engineering first hand in the Summer between my Junior and Senior year. Our leg of the cruise was focused on retrieving a shallow profiler along the axial seamount that had been ripped out of place by a getting caught in a fishing net (more details on this can be seen in following slides). This specific profiler utilized a two-legged mooring, which hadn't been deployed in many years. A fellow student and I were tasked with documenting the process with photo and video, and creating an instructional video for future engineers deploying these two-legged moorings. The shortened version of this video can be seen below:
Later, in an Ocean Engineering course, I used Python to pull data from this same shallow profiler, straight from OOI's website. A slideshow of this project can be seen below.
Link to OOI data: https://ooinet.oceanobservatories.org/data_access/?search=RS03AXPS-SF03A-4B-VELPTD302
Link to GitHub: github.com/Speen91/Single-Point-Velocity-Meter---OOI-Data
Link to OOI data: https://ooinet.oceanobservatories.org/data_access/?search=RS03AXPS-SF03A-4B-VELPTD302
Link to GitHub: github.com/Speen91/Single-Point-Velocity-Meter---OOI-Data
Wheelchair Arduino Project
This project was completed in my mechatronics class. The goal was to use ultrasonic sensor to detect the height and distance, to help wheelchair users access a toilet more easily. Feedback loops were programmed into the microcontroller to provide continuous feedback to the user via a small LCD screen. We 3D printed a small enclosure for the user to hold, which had the screen implemented. A pencil box was altered to hold the Arduino and two ultrasonic sensors in place. As the wheelchair rolls back towards the toilet, it will tell you the distance to the toilet lid, and the height of the lid off the ground.
Fly Fishing Pole
When I have the opportunity to make something and learn about the process rather than buy it from a store, I will take it. A buddy of mine got me excited about fly fishing when we fished the streams in Cle Elum, WA. Luckily for me, this same friend used to make and sell fly fishing poles. He helped me through the steps of choosing the blank rod, eyelets, handle, etc. He then showed me these methods and guided me through the initial process so I could make my own fly fishing rod. This was an incredibly fun project, and allowed me to add some customization.