Manufacture
In terms of manufacture, all the pieces and components of FIND – X are done, finally, except for the wiring connections on the floating module, but that shouldn’t take much more time.
To jog your memory about our system design, Aalto Explorer ocean exploration platform consists of 3 components working in harmony, and their status in V3.0 is as follows:
1 - Expedition platform|Graphic User Interface (GUI)
The back-end coding is done, and the front-end development is almost complete. We only need to wrap up on the features of the Researcher dashboard.
The streaming of the 360 camera works in Captain view, but only on Microsoft Edge and it freezes sometimes. Refreshing the tab resolves the problem, but we will investigate for better solutions.
Our next steps:
• Connect the programming codes of the ROV with the GUI and test the connectivity.
• Connect the streaming from the front camera of the ROV for Captain view on the GUI.
• Test ROV control through the GUI.
• Reduce the latency.
2 - Floating Module
The floating module manufacture is done. However, the connection to control all its mechanisms (anchor, steering and spool), as well as the lights’ control needs to be done and tested. The IP camera on the floating module hasn’t been tested, which will be done after finishing all the other connections.
Our next steps:
• Finish the wiring work to connect the mechanisms to the energy and control systems.
• Calibrate and test the mechanisms and lights.
• Connect the IP camera.
• Finish the calibration of the GPS.
3 - ROV|Drone
(Ideally it goes 100 meters deep - but as of now, only 50m)
The ROV manufacture is also finished. However, the calibration and connection of the salinity sensor, PH sensor and sonar remains. The other sensors are connected and working, as well as the gripper and lights control. However, the gripper consumes energy and turns off the Nvidia board, meaning that the energy management needs to be modified to fix this problem.
Our next steps:
• Connect the PH, salinity and sonar sensors to the Nvidia.
• Calibrate the sensors.
• Fix the gripper energy consumption.
• Test and calibrate the thrusters with the IMU unit during the first test in real environment (water).
• Test the sensors during the first immersion and their readings.
• Monitor the inner temperature of the device while it is underwater.
So that’s it! That’s our update regarding the manufacture and testing of the 3 components of Aalto Explorer. We’ll be sending you an update as soon as we’ve finished calibrating all the connection, fixing current issues and testing in underwater environment.
Stay tuned for more details regarding our 3 main units in future blog posts…
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