As part of my Applied Engineering Design course in the Fall of 2018, I was challenged to build a submersible robot capable of identifying and recovering 3 treasures from the bottom of a pool. Working in a team of 7, we had to design, prototype, test, and present a system that was able to maneuver to each treasure, identify its metallic composition, and finally lift each treasure to the surface of the pool in less than an hour. During competition, our final robot correctly identified all three treasures and completed the challenge in under 30 minutes, earning a perfect performance score.

A major challenge faced during this project was the restrictive nature of a submersible robot. Since radio signals cannot travel underwater, remote control was established through the use of an on-board computer (Raspberry Pi) connected to our control station through a wired VNC connection. Setting up this connection and communicating all control inputs to the Raspberry Pi proved challenging because of the limited programming experience on our team. My main responsibilities for this project included the electronic design, programming, and construction of the submersible's control system, which exposed me to new skills I had limited experience in. Additional technologies utilized in this project included 3D printed components, custom-built inductive proximity sensors, and detailed CAD models describing all components.