ASU students place 2nd in the world at robotics competition

Desert WAVE floats to top of competition in nearly all categories as it faces off against 33 teams from 9 countries

September 11, 2020

On Aug. 30, Desert WAVE members tuned into Zoom to attend the 23rd International RoboSub Competition. The Arizona State University and Si Se Puede Foundation all-female underwater robotics team was elated to place second overall, earning $3,800 in winnings. They virtually competed against 33 teams from nine countries and improved on their third-place win at last year’s competition.

The team also had top finishes in nearly all other categories — second place for their website, third place for their report and fourth place for their video. Desert WAVE members Desert WAVE team members pose with their first autonomous underwater vehicle during a team meeting last spring. In 2020, the team won second place overall in the 23rd International RoboSub Competition. Photo by Connor McKee/ASU Download Full Image

“Whether they compete in an in-person competition or a virtual one, the students of Desert WAVE always bring their best,” said Daniel Frank, Desert WAVE faculty adviser and lecturer at The Polytechnic School, one of the six schools in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU. “I am very proud of their achievements over the past two years, and I’m excited to continue working with them to prepare for the next RoboSub competition.”

“When they announced Desert WAVE as winning second place overall, we could see each other’s excited expressions but couldn’t hear each other because we were all in muted Zoom squares,” said Laura Roty, a second-year engineering robotics major and member of Desert WAVE’s mechanical team. “Following the competition, we had a Zoom party to celebrate and congratulate each other.”

Changing courses

Due to the pandemic, this year’s RoboSub competition moved to a virtual format and submission requirements were modified. The competition organizer, RoboNation, prioritized participant safety and encouraged teams to share concepts, plans and parts if they were unable to complete their autonomous underwater vehicle.

To prepare for the competition, the group met multiple times per week on Zoom and maintained contact via phone calls, group messaging and their Slack channel to continue advancing their new autonomous underwater vehicle, Dragon. While socially distanced, team members conceptualized, designed and fabricated a marker dropper, torpedo launcher, pneumatic system and grabber designed to manipulate objects underwater. During this process, many team members also developed software to help with testing the robot once it’s safe to do so.

Newcomer Priscilla Ramirez, a third-year student double majoring in electrical systems engineering and human systems engineering, helped create the video and report.

“This was my first year on the team, so despite mainly functioning in a virtual format, I still felt the excitement from everyone else,” Ramirez said. “We all worked hard on the deliverables and continued fabrication with smiles on our faces and lots of enthusiasm even while socially distanced.”

The virtual competition

“Throughout the event, games of trivia were used as an icebreaker,” said Andrea Schoonover, a fourth-year software engineering student and project manager. “Even though the event was virtual, the trivia offered a way to collaborate and network — an aspect that we would’ve received in person and that made it fun.”

Both Schoonover and Roty agreed that winning second place was a full-circle feeling of knowing that their hard work was validated.

“A universal concern is, are we good enough?” Roty said. “The answer is yes and it was nice to see our hard work get recognized.”

woman showing robotics design on computer

Jessica Dirks, a fourth-year human systems engineering major and scrum master, uses the 3D computer-aided design software SolidWorks to share a conceptual view of last year’s autonomous underwater vehicle. Photo by Connor McKee/ASU

Next steps

Now that this year’s competition is over, Desert WAVE has begun recruiting new members and electing new officers with the goal of scaling up.

“We need more female programmers to join the team, especially programmers that have experience in autonomous vehicle applications,” said Faridodin “Fredi” Lajvardi, a Desert WAVE mentor and vice president for STEM initiatives at the Si Se Puede Foundation.

“After we celebrated our accomplishments, we immediately began discussing how we wanted to improve,” Roty said. “It reminded me how much heart this team has.”

Third-year mechanical systems engineering student Bridget Koehl says she’s already back at work.

“As soon as the computer-aided design of the computer hull is finished and printed, we will be able to start wiring,” she said. “Currently we are working one person at a time in a mentor’s garage to maintain social distancing.”

As for the group’s aspirations for next year’s competition, they are eager to see Dragon scorch the competition.

“We look forward to being the best in the world next year,” Lajvardi said.

Community outreach

The group also plans to continue community outreach initiatives to encourage young girls to pursue engineering.

“We are much more than a robotics team,” Schoonover said. “We are role models in the community and will continue to do outreach because it’s just as important as our technical mission.”

“I want to make an impact on girls who think they won’t feel comfortable in an engineering degree,” Roty said, “and show how fun and inspiring it actually is.”

Congratulations also go to Underwater Robotics at Arizona State who also competed at the International RoboSub Competition, confirming ASU as a leader in the field.

Sona Patel Srinarayana

Sr communications specialist, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts

480-727-1590 sona.srina@asu.edu

ASU robotics team Desert WAVE prepares for second competition

ASU robotics team Project Manager Andrea Schoonover assembling the pneumatics hull.

Arizona State University’s award-winning robotics submarine team, Desert WAVE, is not allowing COVID-19 to discourage their creativity and collaboration. The women’s autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) team is all hands on deck for their second International RoboSub Competition, which will take place virtually in August 2020.Desert WAVE was looking forward to returning to San Diego, California...

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ASU robotics team Desert WAVE prepares for second competition

June 17, 2020

Desert WAVE was looking forward to returning to San Diego, California, following their success as the highest placing U.S. team in the 2019 global competition, but the pandemic threw a wrench in their plans. Though preparations for this year’s event have taken a turn, the team’s resilient spirit has not wavered. ASU robotics team Project Manager Andrea Schoonover assembling the pneumatics hull. Desert WAVE project manager Andrea Schoonover, who just completed her third year studying software engineering, assembling the pneumatics hull. Photo courtesy of Desert WAVE Download Full Image

Their 3D printer was relocated from the Polytechnic campus to a team member’s home so submarine production could continue. Students also began independently developing parts for their AUV using the 3D computer-aided design software SolidWorks, then collaborated with other members of the team to get their concepts printed and finally delivered those parts to another member’s home for assembly and testing.

“The collaborative nature of this group can’t be diminished and it’s amazing to see their progress, even while working from home,” said Daniel Frank, Desert WAVE faculty adviser and lecturer at The Polytechnic School in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU.

Various forms of communication have kept this interdisciplinary team afloat.

“We have been meeting weekly on Zoom as well as keeping up through good old phone calls, group messaging and humorous get-to-know-me posts in the team Slack channels,” said Jessica Dirks, a scrum master and SolidWorks expert who just completed her third year studying human systems engineering.

“It impresses me to see the students learn how to do things, primarily on their own,” said Fariodin “Fredi” Lajvardi, a Desert WAVE mentor and vice president for STEM initiatives at the Si Se Puede Foundation. “Students are learning how to do computer-aided design, make custom electronic circuit boards and implement machine learning programs in addition to the essential programming skills needed to make the robot operate autonomously.”

Submission requirements for this year’s competition have been modified and include a team website, video and journal paper. The competition organizer, RoboNation, is prioritizing participant safety by canceling the in-person portion of the event and encouraging teams to share concepts, plans and parts instead of a completed AUV.

Desert WAVE looks forward to sharing components of their new AUV, such as a newly designed marker dropper, torpedo launcher, pneumatic system and grabber designed to manipulate objects underwater. They intend to improve each part as well as the overall system design for submission at the 2021 competition.

Paulina Garibay Jaquez of the programming team, testing the thruster hall.

Paulina Garibay Jaquez, who just completed her second year studying robotics engineering and is a member of the programming team, testing the thruster hall.

Photo Courtesy of Desert WAVE

Project Manager Andrea Schoonover testing the pneumatics hull.

Desert WAVE project manager Andrea Schoonover, who just completed her third year studying software engineering, testing the pneumatics hull.

Photo Courtesy of Desert WAVE

Laura Roty of the mechanical team assembling battery pod 1.

Laura Roty, a student at ASU's Barrett, The Honors College, who just completed her first year studying human systems engineering, assembling battery pod 1 as part of her responsibilities on the mechanical team.

Photo Courtesy of Desert WAVE

The Torpedo Launcher pictured shortly after completion. It will be mounted to the top of the AUV.

The torpedo launcher, pictured shortly after completion, will be mounted to the top of the AUV.

Photo Courtesy of Desert WAVE

Laura Roty of the mechanical team assembling battery pod 2.

Laura Roty, a student at ASU's Barrett, The Honors College, who just completed her first year studying human systems engineering, assembling battery pod 2 as part of her responsibilities on the mechanical team.

Photo Courtesy of Desert WAVE

Left: a prototype of the marker dropper made from recycled materials. Right: the final version of the marker dropper.

The photo on the left shows a prototype of the marker dropper made from recycled materials. The photo on the right shows the final version of the marker dropper.

Photos Courtesy of Desert WAVE

“The great thing about these new mechanisms is that they are simple, so they should be extremely reliable,” said Frank.

Laura Roty, a mechanical team member who just completed her first year studying engineering robotics, took the lead on designing the new marker dropper, a device that releases small metal balls, similar to pinballs, into designated areas around the competition’s underwater obstacle course.

“When I started designing the new marker dropper, I was still fairly new to CAD so I designed a cardboard prototype first,” Roty said. “I recycled the core of a roll of paper towel and poked a couple of pencil holes to imitate the pistons and added some crumpled paper to act as the ball bearings.”

She then brought her vision to life using SolidWorks and 3D printing. With the help of teammates and mentors, the dropper had a perfect first trial run.

“This project embodied a lot of meticulous work but it was all so worth it,” Roty said.

Isabella Bushroe, who just completed her second year studying mechanical engineering systems, designed and developed the new torpedo launcher that will mount to the top of the AUV as part of her role on the mechanical team.

“We scrapped last year’s design and I started from scratch,” Bushroe said. “I got a lot of one-on-one help from Dr. Frank over Zoom, and also worked closely with Fredi, who tested the torpedo launcher in his bathtub.”

Sam Ehrle, the electrical team lead who just completed her second year studying robotics and electrical systems engineering, worked on circuit boards for a pneumatic system. The new pneumatics hull will allow the new AUV to use air to power the torpedo launcher, marker dropper and grabber. Last year’s AUV had one main hull, but the new one features several smaller hulls, allowing members to work on their own parts independently and in parallel with each other. This design is more modular and allows for easier disassembly so individual pieces can be removed and reused for future models.

“The team pushed the boundaries of their designs, even with the news that the live event was canceled, and that takes a lot of courage,” Frank said.

In the process of altering plans, adjusting goals and recalibrating workflow, the team learned to adapt, push forward and make the best of unexpected circumstances.

“Some of the excitement is gone this year, but it is still a great learning opportunity,” Lajvardi said, “and it will make us better for next year.”