My three days as an ocean engineer – By Dr. Kris Ludwig
Two days, some PVC pipe, molten wax, wires, and an assortment of tools is about all you need to build your own undersea robot. Add some contagious energy from experienced educators and creative engineers, and you’re ready to knock on the doors of MIT’s Ocean Engineering department to sign up for a few classes.
In early May 2009 I traveled to Boston to attend a “Sea Perch” training workshop with the dynamic staff of MIT’s Sea Grant office. Sea Perch is an international outreach program inspired by the book Build Your Own Underwater Robot and Other Wet Projects by Harry Bohm and Vickie Jensen. Begun in 2003 by the MIT Sea Grant College Program, the Sea Perch program teaches users (educators, scientists, and students alike!) how to build and use their own remotely operated vehicle (ROV), called a “Sea Perch.” Sea Perch can be used to teach the basics of electronics, use of hand tools, and buoyancy. Complementary curricular materials add additional lessons in ocean sensing and water properties. Sea Perch is supported by the Office of Naval Research and MIT Sea Grant.
Sea Perch is also used for scientific purposes. Equipped with sensors to measure salinity, water temperature, and water clarity, Sea Perch can be used to monitor water quality of near-shore environments. Other equipment can be added, including a water sampler, underwater video camera, or hydrophone. For Around the Americas, the crew of Ocean Watch will deploy Sea Perch in each port of call to collect water quality data. These data will be contributed to a growing online global database called the “Sea Perch Data Bank.”
My mission at the workshop was to build a Sea Perch for Around the Americas. It had been nearly ten years since I picked up a soldering iron and stared at circuit diagrams in college physics courses. My memory of how to solder was admittedly foggy, but with some guidance from Sea Perch’s Marine Educator, Sarah Olivo, I jumped in to fashioning test wires from red and black wires and alligator clips and soldering wires to the terminals of switches. Research Engineer Mike Soroka gave me tips on troubleshooting a shorted fuse and by the end of three days, I had successfully built two undersea robots.
On a Saturday afternoon, we walked to the dock of the MIT sailing club. “Go! Dive!” I laughed as I delighted in watching my Sea Perch descend into the murky depths of the Charles River for its first field test. I tested each motor with switches I had wired and installed on a control box and was soon driving my Sea Perch around the dock. Despite all the verifications of circuit connections in the lab, it was somehow still almost magical to see something I had made over the span of only a couple days actually work – and really well at that!
I left Boston thinking of how to modify a Sea Perch for different research and education uses – and contemplating courses in engineering. Clearly, Sea Perch accomplished its mission: to inspire users in science, technology, and engineering.
To learn more about Sea Perch, visit http ://seaperch.mit.edu. Sea Perch will be demonstrated in each port visit for Around the Americas.
