Project Pegasus Part 4 – Making New Connections

Every module starts with unpacking pieces and prepping material. Some days are easier than others

4/26/2017
San Diego, CA Project 

Our module today saw us back at the soldering station, prepping wires and mounting the ROV’s motors. Unfortunately, we got off to a rough start and our team learned a valuable lesson early on today: always come prepared with the right tools. Due to a lack of wire strippers (forgotten by yours truly), we quickly had to improvise; we had to find a way of stripping the rubber insulation off of the wires without cutting the wire itself. This proved to be no easy feat, but I am proud to say that the team held it together with grace and patience and at the end of the day everything worked out. 

---

​Here’s what team member Lorenzo had to say:
 
“Today is the day we finally get to put together the wire routing and motors for Pegasus (our ROV). It was a very exciting build because we were able to attach the motors with propellers to the main body. There are three motors on the ROV; port and starboard (left and right) motors drive the propellers which give the ROV directional thrust. The third motor provides vertical thrust. Once we finished prepping the motor we soon began working on the wiring of Pegasus itself by soldering some of the main wires that were color coded to match the motor wires. To do this we striped the appropriate wires from the DB-25 connector and the motor wires. There are three wires for the motor which means we had to solder three connections per motor! The soldering today was a major challenge as we had to figure out how to strip the wires without wire cutters and to wrap the exposed wires together. To protect the soldered connections (from water and stress)  we melted plastic tubing (called "heat shrink") on to the connections as any exposed wire is dangerous and must be covered by something that doesn’t conduct electricity. Wire routing was also a challenge as we had to figure out what wires go in what direction and should be attached at which point to the inner frame of Pegasus. We used zip ties to clearly organize the wires, which will make the inner components of the ROV run more smoothly. Even though we made a few mistakes along the way, we learned from them and it all worked out in the end.

Honing those soldering skills. Clockwise from top: Jordan, Maddy, Aaron and Lorenzo

Lorenzo putting the final touches on a particularly difficult connection

This module brought the team closer together; solving tough challenges when things go wrong and learning from them is all part of the process when working on a project like this one. I am very happy, each day brings new exciting challenges and builds as we are almost finished building our ROV. In the end, the experiences and a chance to help others with what we are doing is the important part of all as this and soon we’ll be able to fly Pegasus in the ocean.”

We had nine major connections to solder today: the ROV's motors draw a lot of power!

Neatness is key when organizing cables

​Well said Lorenzo! We’re just a few more build-days away from completing the construction of Pegasus! At this point soldering, acrylic welding and cooperation are second nature to Project Pegasus interns, and I couldn’t be more proud.
 
Be sure to check back in as we work towards getting Pegasus built and in the water!
 
Cheers,
 
Baron von Urchin

Pegasus is really starting to look like an ROV now!

Shoutout to PhD student and Edwards Lab-mate Melissa Ward for helping us solder