Building Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)

Debra W. Woodall, Daytona State College

This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Peer Reviewed Teaching Activities collection.

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection

This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are

Scientific Accuracy
Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
Pedagogic Effectiveness
Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page

For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.

This page first made public: May 31, 2013

Summary

Educators with an interest in hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines will receive introductory instructions on how to design, engineer and build a fully functional underwater ROV.

Oceanography, Engineering | High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)

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Context

Audience

Undergraduate introductory course in Oceanography for both majors and non-majors.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

This course topic is typically taught after students have learned about deep-water organisms and habitats.

How the activity is situated in the course

This is a stand-alone exercise.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Content goals include the types of and uses for ROVs in the marine environment.
Concept goals include the importance of ROV buoyancy, ballast, structure, payload and propulsion.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Students must synthesize concept goals in order to successfully build, deploy, and maneuver an ROV in order to capture ocean 'biologicals'

Other skills goals for this activity

Students must be able to collaborate with other ocean 'engineers' to successfully complete this task.

Description and Teaching Materials

A description of the ROV lab, supporting materials and all links may be found within the attached PowerPoint presentation.

Introduction to ROVs (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 7MB May31 13)

Teaching Notes and Tips

Safety: Deployment of ROVs is allowed only in the shallow end of the pool.

Assessment

Assessment of the lab is also described in the PowerPoint presentation.

References and Resources

The Marine Advanced Technology Center (MATE) provides outstanding educational material and resources regarding ROVs. They can be contacted via their website: https://www.mpc.edu/academics/specialized-programs/marine-advanced-technology-education-mate-center

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