For this year in systems engineering, our group will be creating an ROV that will be able to perform certain tasks. These tasks will include stopping the flow of air bubbles, followed by capping the top of the well, and ending with cleaning the remaining balls in the water. The following document illustrates various research and brainstorming that our group as a whole has completed.
In 2010, the most devastating oil disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. Not only was the well pouring oil into the ocean, but those who were trained to stop it were not able to control the problem in a reasonable amount of time. This competition will show competitors the problems these engineers faced and how to solve them on a much smaller scale. Fixing any complicated machine can be a challenge but the underwater environment makes it many times more difficult. This competition will force all the groups participating to overcome these difficulties. According to a 2009 study, the United States uses 18,690,000 barrels of oil each day. This is not only a huge number, but it’s a huge problem. Oil disasters will most likely happen again in the future and we must have training exercises such as this competition to prepare future engineers how to deal with similar situations.
With the increasing oil demand, companies are forced to drill deeper and in more dangerous areas. There are many deep sea oil rigs that reach enormous depths into the ocean. This creates more and more problems for the people that have to fix them. At these depths divers cannot be used so they have to rely completely on remotely operated vehicles. These vehicles have to be completely water proof to protect the electrical system. They also have to be able to withstand great water pressure which is a problem we do not have to face in the competition. One of the main difficulties of being in an underwater environment is the movement of the ROV itself. In this environment the ROV has the ability to go in 12 points of direction. This makes it very difficult to make precise movements while the operator has to compensate for any sort of currents our buoyancy problems.
For the Seaperch competition, there are eight conditions of use. First, only two team members are allowed on the pool deck during a competition. Second, all team members must wear shoes with rubber soles to a competition. Third, nothing other than the SeaPerch ROV may be put into the pool. Fourth, each SeaPerch ROV will be presented for a compliance check during registration on the first day, and inspected and qualified by a judge just prior to a competition. Fifth, there will be a triage area located near the pool with basic tools and parts provided for teams to make necessary repairs. Sixth, Batteries, or equivalent 12V power supplies, will be provided so students are not required to travel with batteries. Seventh, in the event that a vehicle is inadvertently interfered with during a competition, or a malfunction of a vehicle's parts (i.e., the motor) occurs that is beyond the design and construction by the team, the lead pool judge will have the authority to provide the team with the necessary time to fix their vehicle and to allow them to compete later in the round. These malfunctions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Eighth, throughout the competition, the ROVs must move only under their own power. Specifically, it is expressly prohibited for a team member to pull the vehicle by the tether, or attempt to maneuver the ROV using the tether, during the competition. This action will be grounds for immediate disqualification of the team.
In the aspect of this competition, the end user will be us. So the underwater ROV’s main purpose to aid us in completing the task at hand which is capping the well. If the well in this competition was a real one the only way to reach it safely would be through the use of a ROV. For these types of situations many of the ROVs are customized according to what the end user wants or what the problem is at hand. In the real world, the ROV’s can be used by many people for many reasons. Oil companies and governments can use these machines to clean up spills or preform maintenance on these deep underwater wells. Many ROVs are used by military powers to patrol harbors and many private companies use them to scan the sea floor to perform various tests.
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