Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Water tests
Late yesterday morning, Wes and I took the hull down to the pool for some final leak tests. When we got back up to the lab, Michael was there working with the compass AVR code. The three of us worked most of the day fitting the electronics into the sub and getting everything working. (Side note: DMMs with low batteries read voltages higher than reality). We picked up a few things at Fry's to complete the last few connections, and spent another hour or two debugging problems with the wireless Ethernet equipment and power circuitry. Collin also showed up and got the light detectors working.
At around 21:30, we took the AUV down to the pool for a live power test. Full of electronics and batteries, it was heavy enough to sink until we removed 10 pounds of dead weight that had been attached to the frame. We were also still having some wireless connectivity issues. After about 15 minutes, we squashed the communications bug and put the sub in the water to test the systems. It maneuvers quite well around the pool, and will basically go straight on its own (open loop) if there aren't any significant currents in the water. After an hour of runtime, we pulled the AUV out of the water and took it back up to the lab.
The weight seems about right; the vertical motors can drive the sub underwater without a lot of effort. Most of this test was on the surface, but we did also perform some underwater maneuvering. After the test, the drive motor battery reported a 3/4 charge and the dive motor battery reported a 4/4 charge. The computer and logic battery reported a 2/4 charge, but it was powering the AUV for an hour and twenty minutes instead of simply the hour that the motors were running. All in all, it appears that our runtime for tests will be somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours. ¶ kd5bjo @ 02:18
At around 21:30, we took the AUV down to the pool for a live power test. Full of electronics and batteries, it was heavy enough to sink until we removed 10 pounds of dead weight that had been attached to the frame. We were also still having some wireless connectivity issues. After about 15 minutes, we squashed the communications bug and put the sub in the water to test the systems. It maneuvers quite well around the pool, and will basically go straight on its own (open loop) if there aren't any significant currents in the water. After an hour of runtime, we pulled the AUV out of the water and took it back up to the lab.
The weight seems about right; the vertical motors can drive the sub underwater without a lot of effort. Most of this test was on the surface, but we did also perform some underwater maneuvering. After the test, the drive motor battery reported a 3/4 charge and the dive motor battery reported a 4/4 charge. The computer and logic battery reported a 2/4 charge, but it was powering the AUV for an hour and twenty minutes instead of simply the hour that the motors were running. All in all, it appears that our runtime for tests will be somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours. ¶ kd5bjo @ 02:18
