Daily Log: LM

Day 1: 5/4/16

Today, I met with my teammates, and together we came up with a team name: The Krusty Krab, in reference to SpongeBob (my favorite childhood TV show!). I was assigned the role of Blogger and Ethan was assigned the role of Team Leader.
After Ethan gave us all a preview of what we would be doing during the next few weeks, I created our blog and added my teammates as Admin. For the rest of the class period, we worked on our "What is an ROV?" assignment.


Day 2: 5/6/16

I was absent today. Today, the team finished "What is an ROV?" They did research and answered questions to learn about the different parts of an ROV. They also completed "The Challenge," which asks questions about specifically what we will be building in class and how it relates to what we have studied all year. To make up the time I lost, I will come in during the break to help my team build the ROV.

Day 3: 5/10/16

We had our interview with Mrs. S today. While we were waiting for her, we studied our "What is an ROV?" page to prepare ourselves for the questions she would ask us. After we felt confident, we began to watch videos of how to build the ROV. Since I'm working with Ethan on building the motors, we watched a video on how to waterproof the three motors by covering them with tape. The interview went okay; I think I learn more by doing than I do by just reading, so I think actually constructing the ROV will teach me a great deal about how they work. After the interview, we grabbed instruction manuals and began to tape the motors.

Day 4: 5/11/16

I was absent today due to AP testing. My team continued to work on the ROV. Ethan finished taping the motors and Trent drilled holes in the pipes. My team started the daily blog. I will come in during break to help my team catch up, because we are behind. I will be missing even more of this class for AP testing, which is a bummer. Ethan also drilled holes into the film canisters, which will house the motors.

Day 5: 5/13/16

Today, Trent was absent. Ethan and I worked together to assemble the frame using the PVC pipes that Trent drilled holes into. It was sort of like a puzzle; it was fun! We were missing a piece, however, so we had to buy a piece from Mrs. S. Zach was working on the control box, I believe, though I didn't really get to see what he was doing. I worked on connecting the power cords to the motors for the rest of the class period, first wiring them around the terminals and then soldering the wires to the terminals. Mrs. S then told our group that we were very far behind. We were supposed to have a working ROV today but we did not reach that goal.

Over the break:
5/17/16: Today, I came in before track practice to solder the control box. I really like soldering! It's fun. I was there for around 45 minutes. By the time I left, the control box was finished; all we needed to do was connect the power cord to it.
5/18/16: Sadly, our power cord broke, so I had to remove the existing wires and then re-solder more wires to our motors. After that, Ethan, Zach, and I further waterproofed the motors by covering them in wax. We waxed them, and then put them in a canister to seal the motors shut from any water. Waxing was fun. Tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment, and on Friday I have Physics Day, so I'll be at Great America. I hope my team will be able to put the propellers on the motors and then attach the motors to the frame so we are all caught up.

Day 6: 5/19/16

I was absent today because I had an important Travel Medicine appointment. My team put the propellers on the motors and attached all three motors to the frame using zip ties. They had to be careful and make sure they attached each motor to the right place on the frame according to the buttons on the control box and which motors they controlled.

Day 7: 5/20/16

Today, I was at Great America for my Physics class. My team waterproofed the wires using wax and then, they tied the wire to the ROV. After that, they tested out the ROV. According to the team leader, Ethan, it went well. They also adjusted the flotation devices for the correct buoyancy. I hope I will be able to contribute more next class.

Day 8: 5/24/16

Today, I saw our completed ROV. I am so proud of my team! It looks great. To do our tasks, we needed to figure out some device that could pick up objects. We wanted to use a magnet, but we couldn't find one that was powerful enough, so instead we zip-tied two hooks to the bottom of the ROV, and we hope we can use those to pick up the octopuses and the lid. We also put the velcro for the camera on the ROV. Our ROV is ready for the pool!