LBCC strives for perfection

A mass of wires, gears, electronics and computer equipment pack a workroom in the Service Center on the north side of the Albany campus. From this chaos has emerged a robot that LBCC students are hoping will measure up to the best that students from around the world can create.

The LBCC ROV Club will join dozens of other teams from around the globe June 26-28 at the international Underwater Robotics Competition. Modeling its ROV after an industrially designed vehicle known as Nereus, the team has spent this school year building  a brand-new robot from scratch.

LBCC ROV crew 

“We wanted everything new this year, and we didn’t use a single piece from the old one. We even built a new arm,” said Jonas Cervantes, chief executive officer of the LBCC ROV Club.

Nereus is the ROV that reached the Challenger Deep in Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the sea. During the college competition, the student-built ROV’s will need to accomplish similar missions underwater.

On May 25, the LBCC ROV team passed the tech test in the first round to advance to the final competition in Alpena, Mich. This is the fifth time that LBCC’s team has reached the finals.

The final competition includes three missions: pick up an underwater object, drive into an underwater tunnel to pick up the object, and measure a shipwreck with the fewest number of errors.

Instead of using PVC (polyvinyl chloride) as a major material, the team used aluminum because it’s stronger, lighter, and more flexible. This creates less construction work to combine separate body parts. Overall, the ROV weighs 22 pounds.

The only PVC part of the ROV is the agar sampler. This is to serve scientific research purposes. When the ROV dives down with force to the waterbed, the PVC tube can suck in the bedding material and bring samples back for research.

Students try to combine the rest of the
 pieces 

To save money and reduce weight, the six motors used to power the ROV were printed on campus with a 3D printer. The connector sleeves are silicon tubes found in craft stores and are completely waterproof. The silicon tubes are also dense and stretchy. This leaves no space for water, and the electrical wire connectors are less likely to leak.

“I found them in a craft store, and they work perfectly on the connectors. So why not?” said team member Krissy Kellogg.

During the testing process, the team realized the wires on the side have a big tension force. This was because all wires needed to be tied together to connect with the power source on the surface. To reduce the stiffness and directional force, the team simply reorganized the wires with a tether. The air inside also created more buoyancy.

Each student on the team has different responsibilities. For example, Devon Goode worked on the power brick, Stephen Gibbel wrote the programing, Shane Licari and Max Flansberg constructed the measuring tape case and adjusted the camera angles, and Kellogg, the chief financial officer, manages the team’s financial account.

Licari pointed at Flansberg and said “We all work on different things, but we help each other out too. Like Max right now, he’s trying to create more buoyancy on the wire by adding these ropes.”

Although everyone contributes differently, the team collaborates during meetings and lunch get-togethers to discuss the problems and ensure deadlines are met.

“Although we started with 50 students, I’d like to say we have 12 active members. This is an insane amount of work, but totally worth it,” said Cervantes.


At a glance:

Advisor: Greg Mulder
CEO: Jonas Cervantes cervantesjonas1@gmail.com
Scheduled meeting: Wed in room 105 in Madrone Hall