Designed for community and technical college students, the Eagle Ray ROV Kit is an advanced instructional ROV kit that introduces students to systems and designs they might see in the marine workforce, while allowing them to be creative and incorporate their own design. Being developed with funding from a National Science Foundation grant to increase community and technical college participation in the MATE ROV Competition, the Eagle Ray progresses beyond the current instructional ROV kits offered by the SeaMATE online store, moving from a 12 volt, 25-amp system to a 48 volt, 30-amp system. Motor control boards are relocated from the surface-side controller to a watertight housing onboard the ROV. An Arduino MEGA mounted on a custom-made control board drives the Eagle Ray using four Blue Robotics T-200 thrusters.
Learning Objectives:
Students participating in the MATE ROV Competition are encouraged to make modifications and adjust the design of the Eagle Ray to better accomplish the mission tasks. Basic equipment and instructional building guides are provided for teams, but the Eagle Ray is designed for teams to develop additional capabilities and enhance with additional systems. Completing the MATE ROV Competition mission tasks is entirely left to the team to design and implement.