Latis II Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle Technical Report

DESIGN RATIONALE
MISSIONS
After establishing that the UMaine ROV team
could successfully build, program and operate
the prototype, Latis I, the team began the
design process to create a new ROV specifically
designed for the MATE ROV Competition. The
team focused on compactness, efficiency,
simplicity, and manufacturability in the final
design. The following is a short description of
the design rationale followed for each task
appointed by MATE.
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Figure 12: Prototype ROV, Latis I
TASK #1 – RESURRECT HUGO
The first mission requires the ROV to locate an
area of seismic activity, release the High Rate
Hyrdophone (HRH) from the elevator, and
install it at that spot. Next, the ROV must open
the port on HUGO’s junction box and insert the
HRH’s cable. To accomplish these tasks, Latis II
has a hydrophone installed on the front of the
body which can detect sound waves. The
LabVIEW dashboard provides a graphical display
of the sound waves underwater and gives a
numeric value of the frequency. The ROV also
has opposing four degree-of-freedom arms
outfitted with grippers. This will allow the ROV
to remove both pins from the HRH
simultaneously and move it to the location
LATIS II
TECHNICAL REPORT
emitting the sound waves on the pool floor.
Latis II has three cameras installed to give the
operators multiple views of the arms and any
objects the ROV needs to grab or manipulate.
These multiple viewing angles allow the
operator to successfully complete this task. The
grippers were designed specifically to hold the
elevator and HRH frame so that the ROV is
stable as it removes the HRH.
TASK #2 – COLLECTING CRUSTACEANS
The mission involves entering an 80cm by 80cm
cave, collecting crustaceans, and returning
them to the surface. It is with this task in mind
that the ROV Team designed such dexterous
arms. The increased flexibility of the arms
allows them to be particularly useful in this task
as the ROV will only have to rest on the bottom
of the pool as the arms do the work. Two LED
lights installed on the front of the ROV allows
the operator to clearly see the inside the cave.
A retractable net affixed to the front of the
skids makes a handy place for storing
crustaceans that will be brought to the surface.
Having the net on the front of the ROV provides
storage space for the crustaceans so that no
time has to be wasted returning to the surface
to retrieve them. The overall size of the ROV
was decided when designing for this task as it is
the only one with a size limit. The dimensions of
the ROV are 43cm wide, 60cm long and 29cm
tall. This allows the ROV to maneuver freely
through the cave.