Day 5 - Completing the Sea Perch

I finished my Sea Perch ROV today! In the morning, I embedded my motors in hot wax that I poured into film canisters and waited for them to cool. The most difficult part of the waxing was getting the end of the motor to poke through the hole I drilled at the bottom of the film canister. The plastic softened in contact with hot wax, so it was easy to poke through the plastic itself. Sealing the motors in wax

Once the motors cooled, I mixed epoxy to glue the propellors to the ends of the motors. After waiting for the epoxy to set for an hour, I screwed the thrusters/motor complex onto the Sea Perch frame. This step was the most fun; screwing the nails on securely and watching my Sea Perch come together was a relief after several days of tedious soldering and wiring.

The wiring on the control box looked messy and disorganized, but once I installed the buttons and screwed the control box shut, all of the complex wiring was hidden inside. Now, I never underestimate what looks on the outside like a simple box - a modem or calculator, for example. I can fully appreciate the handfuls of wires that each conceals and the hours of thought once put into figuring out how to connect each of the wires to get the desired effects.

Glued-on propellors & epoxy

Then it was time for me to test the buttons on the control. There was a scary moment when I pressed the toggle switches and...nothing happened. But it turned out that I was only unfamiliar with the correct way of using those switches. They are to be pushed back and forth at the precise angle, not pressed up and down. It was rewarding when I pressed the buttons and the motors actually spun, making a quiet, celebratory whirring noise.

"I think I'm done with the Sea Perch," I announced triumphantly. But then Matt tried stripping down the tether cable to give it some more room and accidently nicked the blue wire so much that it split completely in two!

I thought for a moment that I had to start completely over with the motor attached and resolder everthing associated with that blue wire. Luckily, I only had to solder the split ends of the wire together, then cover them with monkey dung and electrical tape.

Eventually, Cole and I tested our completed Sea Perches in the OETL testing tank. I named mine "Kraken I" and drew the eyes of sea monster onto the front. I felt a thrill as I placed the Kraken in the water and directed it forwards and backwards, up and down with the buttons on my control box. It felt like a video game that I had complete control over, and I could not believe that I made it myself.

The Mighty Kraken...