Aquaphoton Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle

About the Competition

The MATE Center uses underwater robots – also known as remotely operated underwater vehicles or ROVs – to teach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and prepare students for technical careers. The competition requires students to think of themselves as “entrepreneurs” and transform their teams into companies that manufacture, market, and sell “products.” In addition to engineering their ROVs, the students are required to prepare technical reports, poster displays, and engineering presentations that are delivered to working professionals who serve as competition judges.

About the Team

Aquaphoton Academy is an undergraduate team for Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. The team began in submarine manufacturing and has been taking part in the annual MATE competition since 2012. Ever since, Aquaphoton Academy has been encouraging students to engage in the field of submarines and ROV industry through the exchange of experience and knowledge between the members of the Academy to create a common working environment to advance the technical level of undergraduates and to urge them to become entrepreneurs in ROV industry.

Team history highlights

About the project

Aquaphoton team has continued in embracing new technologies and exploiting all its members’ skills in delivering each year a newly designed ROV renowned for its efficiency while remaining justified in terms of weight and cost. 
Aquaphoton team this year is prepared in a variety of disciplines to meet the requirements of MATE ROV Competition 2019. This year's ROV has newly added features including the inspection of different areas by releasing a micro ROV connected by fiber optic cables.

Below are simulated and real-life pictures of last year’s ROV:

The previous year, all our designed PCBs became surface mount technology based which means our electrical system has become more compact. Changing to SMD design has not only reduced the system size, but also decreased the wired connections since more components can be placed in the same space. All the electrical components were placed on two boards. The first is a rectangular-shaped board that was placed horizontally and the other one is a semi-circle which was placed vertically.

This year, the large number of used sensors lead to the increase of the components number count. Thus, the electrical boards are designed in the form of two horizontal plates to increase the surface area of the boards. Additionally, we have designed a separate board to control the micro ROV which would have an independent electrical system.

Currently, we already have an initial design ready, and we are working on finalising the design by 3D modelling our boards using Circuit works and SOLIDWORKS electrical until the most optimum configuration is achieved.

Word to PCBWay

Finally, we would like to thank PCBway for giving students the opportunity to bring their projects to life. Aquaphoton has been awarded Best design in ROV Egypt 2018 regional competition April 2018 thanks to PCBWay's support and sponsorship last year. Thus, we would be grateful for perfecting the success process in cooperation with your sponsorship for the following year and we will acknowledge your support in our presentation as well as include it in our technical report and poster.