An Introduction to STEM ROV

This article is the first in a series of STEM ROV Assembly experience sharing. It introduces readers to the PVC ROV currently used in campus teaching.

The education of ROV (underwater robots) has been implemented in campuses for a long time, and there are many related large-scale competitions, mainly for junior or senior high school students. Its goal is to inspire students’ creativity with daily available materials and simple assembly, and to popularize the ROV enlightenment course on campus.

In Taiwan, ROV is a relatively unfamiliar teaching program. At present, Taiwan, a country founded on the ocean, has incorporated marine education into the new curriculum. The teaching of ROV is a new topic that cannot be missed. At present, other teaching kits on the market are highly homogenous and flooded. The teaching of ROV allows teachers and students to have A whole new teaching experience.

ROVs are robots that replace humans for exploration or maintenance tasks underwater. The characteristics of water are very different from air, so the technology required for ROVs is relatively complex, which is also reflected in its price.

The purpose of school teaching is to inspire students’ creativity with existing materials, and the same is true of ROV teaching. The SeaPerch PVC ROV is a well-known ROV teaching program. It uses the PVC pipe as ROV frame, simple waterproof technology, easy control, and then assembles a teaching PVC ROV.

PVC ROV teaching meets STEAM education.

Science：Archimedes’ principle (fluid buoyancy)、Ohm’s Law (Efficient Distribution of Battery Power)

Technology：The source of ROV buoyancy、waterproof design、How to Control DC Motor Speed and Steering、Knowledge and selection of batteries、underwater thruster

Engineering：System Architecture Design、Simple waterproof thruster DIY、ROV frame assembly、ROV Controller、How to control ROV、ROV Dive/Up

Arts：Design a practical PVC ROV shape

Maths：Initial estimation of required buoyancy, estimation of total system current consumption, how to maximize ROV thrust

The STEAM education is to hope that students can cultivate systematic learning and thinking. Before doing each work, understand the relevant principles (Science), be familiar with the existing methods (Technology) developed by its principles, find a feasible process (Engineering) design/assemble its works in a scientific way, use mathematics (Maths) ) to make the preliminary prediction of the work and the difference after statistical assembly as a reference for future improvement. The addition of Arts is to hope that the design works can add care to people, which reflects the thinking from the appearance of the works, the fluency of use to the improvement of the environment. After all, technology always comes from human nature.

For the promotion of ROV education in Taiwan, ROV MAKER also launched the IPANEMA ROV kit. This is a kit refered from SeaPerch PVC ROV. ROV MAKER has added the concept of designing products in the industry in the past, and has optimized the ROV control and thruster power, so that the Ipanema PVC ROV is not only a teaching aid for classroom teaching, but can actually go outside, as vehicle for expeditions in waters and even harbors.

The ROV MAKER team launched a series of articles on STEM ROV Assembly experience sharing, hoping that interested students can make better PVC ROV.

We will continue to update this series of articles on STEM ROV Assembly experience sharing, and interested readers are welcome to continue to follow

Readers interested in IPANEMA ROV kits can refer to the following product catalogs.