Linn-Benton Community College has a history of participating in the MATE ROV international competition with innovative and creative remotely operated vehicles despite a lack of funding. The purpose of the team is to design, build, and demonstrate the best possible ROV for each year's specific missions and tasks. To determine the optimal design of the ROV manipulator arm, stress tests were performed on the arm components by measuring the underwater weight of objects to be lifted, analyzing the required torques and forces, and using SolidWorks simulations. The results were used to select appropriate materials and motor sizes to ensure maximum safety while keeping production costs down.

1. Remotely Operated Vehicle Team – Manipulator Arm
2013 – 2014: Linn-BentonCommunityCollege –Eli YazzolinoGilbert
Purpose:Linn-BentonCommunityCollegehasalonghistoryas a participantandcontenderinthe MATE
ROV international competition.Inthe sevenyearlife of the program, LBCC’sremotelyoperatedvehicles
have gaineda reputationforbeingbothinnovative andcreative;despite the general lackof corporate
and/orprivate funding.The MATEROV internationalcompetitionchallengesparticipantsbyprovidinga
newsetof missionspecifictasksandguidelineseachyear.Ourpurpose asa participatingteam
(company) istodesign,document,buildanddemonstrate the bestROV (product)possibleforthe
specifictasksandguidelinesprovided.
Task: To provide dataand
insightregardingthe stress
involvedinliftingobjectsof
variedmass.Thiswill be usedto
determine the optimal material
and thicknessof the ROV
manipulatorsparts. Inorderto
keepproductioncostsdown
and to ensure maximumsafety,
a physical analysisof the arm
was a necessity.Byknowing
whichparts experience the
least/mostnewton’s of force
we are able to model andshape
the arm accordingly.
Thisanalysisalsopertainstothe
motorsinvolvedinbothmoving
the grippersthemselves,and
the motors toliftand turnthe entire armas a whole.
Knowledge Applied:
 Measuredthe underwaterweightof all missionspecificobjectsneedingtobe movedand/or
lifted.
 Usedmy understandingof physicstoanalyze the torquesandarmforce requiredtoliftandhold
the variousobjects.
 Usingthe data gatheredfromthe analysis,IperformedstresstestsusingSolidWorksoneachof
the componentsthatmade up the arm. Thiswas thenusedtodetermine whatkindsof
materialseachof the arms componentsneededtobe made outof.
 The torquesand forceswere alsousedtoproperlyselectthe size andstrengthsof the motorson
the arm.
 To ensure safety,the armwasdesignedtowithstand1.5timesthe maximumforce foundon
each of itscomponents.