Designing Autonomous Underwater Robot

Yichao PengMechanical Engineering Major

ypeng@terpmail.umd.edu

College Park Scholars

Science & Global Change Program

College Park Scholars Academic Showcase

May 5, 2016

Introduction

The goal of the project is to design, fabricate, and test a novel

autonomous underwater platform. The robot need to form tasks such as

passing through gates, firing torpedo, locating sonar ping.

We wish to retire our old robot and build a more modular robot that’s

lighter, more compact, and easier to service. My task is to design,

analyze, and fabricate the new robot along with all the component

mounting.

Acknowledgments:

Special thanks to Dr. Akin, grad students at Space

System Lab, Mr. Aroom, the DesignME shop, members

at Robotics @ Maryland, Dr. Merck and Dr. Holtz

Discussion

❖ Completed the design and analysis of a robotics mechanical system

❖ Reduced weight by 60% and size by 50% compared to its predecessor

❖ Learned the importance of teamwork in engineering project and that an effective

channel of communication is critical to keep team in sync

❖ Learned to mitigate the impact of funding on robot design by choosing cost effective

components, cutting excessive spending, and preparing to downgrade

❖ Learned to distribute work and plan out the project using dependency analysis and

Gantt chart

❖ Familiarized with common machining operations

Robotics at Maryland (R@M)

R@M is a student organized, competitive robotics team

specialize in autonomous underwater vehicle. We

compete in the annual RoboSub competition.

We are designing a new underwater platform incorporating the latest

computing hardware and actuators. We are also exploring new

fabrication methods such as water-jetting, laser cutting, and 3D printing.

Finalized Robot

Future Work

❖ Design and build competition specific mechanisms and write up documentation

❖ Expand the functionality of robot to perform more tasks

❖ Research and develop object manipulation mechanisms such as robotics arms

Space to

place QR

Code

Image by Jackie Tran

Photo of retired Tortuga IV (left) and frame for project QUBO (right)

CAD Rendering of assembled robot (left) and electronic hull (right)

Design Analysis Fabrication

Modular robot frame

Mounting for components

Pressure rated hulls

Electronic hull internal

Stress analysis for parts

Thermal simulation

Machining review

Critical Design Review (CDR)

Material selection

Create shop drawing

Contract machining shops

Milling and turning parts

Robotics at Maryland:

Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility

4436 Technology Dr.

College Park, MD 20742

Image by Justin Kanga

Photo of R@M members in front of neutral buoyancy tank