Daily Log - Olivia

May 5, 2016
We spent today setting up our blog. Shoutout to Tessa our blog guru!

May 6, 2016
Our blog is starting to look pretty good. Go check out our "What is an ROV?" and "The Challenges" pages! Today we got a sense of the tasks ahead of us, and got to know each other as a group. After checking out the challenges, it seems like our ROV will have to be pretty mobile and capable of precisely picking up and moving objects. Our limited budget means our ROV probably won't be quite as complex as jj or Argo, but it will be just as cool. We are all really excited to start building!

May 10, 2016
After checking in with Ms. S about the components of an ROV, we watched some informational videos about how to use the tools we will need for this project. Next, Lauren and I started working on waterproofing our motors by wrapping them in electrical tape. We finished two of the three motors, so next time we will need to finish the last one.

May 12, 2016
Lauren and I finished waterproofing the motors today. We also started preparing our tether cable wires to attach to the motors. We took off the cover, and sorted the color pairs before stripping the wires and attaching them to the positive and negative terminals on the motors. Next time, Tessa will need to solder the wires to the terminals so Lauren and I can get started with the waterproofing wax! 

May 13, 2016
We have finished waterproofing out motors! They are all sealed into the canisters with a layer of wax. Despite the difficulty of getting the wax off our hands, the motors are ready to have the propellers attached next time.

May 16, 2016
Today we finished our ROV! We tested the motors with the controller and attached them to the frame. We then headed out to the test pool and worked on our ROV's buoyancy. We have decided to name her Marsha.

May 20, 2016
Marsha had some trouble with her top propeller today, but we have re-glued and she should be fine now. We also worked on a way to attach the camera and a mechanism to pick up specimens and the oil cover.

May 24, 2016
Today we were able to work in the practice mini-pool which, though cold and wet, was a good time. We caught some critters and a oil well stopper as well as working out Marsha's navigational quirks. It was really cool to be able to practice moving around while only looking through the camera monitor. Next time it's we will be in the real competition pool! So excited to see how Marsha does!