For my senior design project, we got a grant of $25k to explore if bad actors could use an unmanned underwater vehicle could keep a naval asset in port for 30 days. The opportunity arose from the extensive history of collaboration between the US Navy and Stevens Institute’s Davidson Laboratory. Thanks to the scholars’ program, I had been working at Davidson Laboratory throughout my time at the school, so the Dean of Engineering approached me to lead the effort.

I assembled a team of 9 students – 2 Computer Engineers (including me), 2 Electrical Engineers, and 5 Mechanical Engineers. I had taken on the role as the System Engineer as well. The first part of the project was to define our nefarious plan, which would define the requirements for the UUV. I used my status as a student to get access to areas and information, sponsorships, and discounted parts 🙂

Once we defined our plan, we broke down the project and started iterating through designs. I was responsible for the selection and implementation of our micro controller, sensors, and propulsors. Additionally, I setup a software suite that would keep the most up to date data for the control loop algorithm. We worked many long nights and into the summer fighting with I2C, RS232, and H-Bridges.

We traveled to DC for a conference where Chief Naval Officer (CNO) Roughhead would be in attendance. As he walked by our booth, I gave him our elevator pitch of why this should be on his radar, and invited him to come see our demonstration in Key West.

On the day of the demonstration, we encountered many challenges, including getting caught in the weeds, burning a wire due to an improperly sized fuse, and having to modify our control system. Yet we persevered through these challenges as a team, and before the end of the day, successfully completed the simulated mission by hitting a small net from a few hundred yards away.