As the new semester starts, CUAUV has been working on completing the 2012 vehicle, Killick. The picture shows the front end cap, valve enclosure, track bulk heads, thruster modification, collar, end cap, pistons, and camera enclosures.

Welcome back everyone! CUAUV is glad to be back to Cornell for the spring 2012 semester. We hope this semester will be as eventful and successful as we come closer to the AUVSI/ONR Underwater Vehicle competition. Stay tuned for more updates.

Click on the link below to view CUAUV's 2011 Fall Newsletter and learn about the team's progress!
2011 Fall Newsletter

We are now into the last week of classes. So far, much progress has been made by the different teams of CUAUV. We were able to complete most of the semester’s goals and are planning ahead for the spring semester.

We wish everyone good luck on the exams and wonderful holidays!

On November 20, 2011, CUAUV hosted its annual Open Pool Test at Teagle Pool, showcasing its 2011 competition vehicle, Drekar, to the public. The audience was treated to light refreshments as they watched Drekar glide through obstacle courses, shoot torpedoes, and complete image recognition tasks. Thank you to everyone who came to the Open Pool Test, and we look forward to seeing everyone again in our future promotional events!
Pool test flyer

On the 22nd of October, CUAUV along with a research group from SUNY Cortland, and members of the Ithaca High School Robotics Team boarded the Floating Classroom Project and set course for the mouth of Cayuga Lake. The purpose of our visit was to observe the effectiveness of an herbicide in deterring the spread of Hydrilla, an invasive plant species, to the mouth of Cayuga Lake. The vehicle was deployed in two locations and sent to a maximum depth of 12 meters in order to observe the lake bottom. No Hydrilla was seen from our dives; additionally, it appeared that other plant life remained unaffected by the herbicide. Our vehicle's voyage concluded by inspecting the propeller of the Floating Classroom Project.

Here is a video containing footage taken by the vehicle:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CornellAUV#p/a/u/0/GBoRBMqZgic

For more information on the Floating Classroom Project, click on the link below:

http://floatingclassroom.cayugawatershed.org/

CUAUV collaborated with Diversity Programs in Engineering and hosted a balloon-powered boat event for students outside of the Cornell community. With the help of CUAUV team members, students were able to build a boat propelled by balloons and learned the concepts behind the propulsion. They worked in CUAUV’s lab workspace and had an opportunity to learn about the team and last year’s competition vehicle.

As we are currently working on the design of our vehicle this year, we have finalized the date for the Open Pool Test to be November 20th from 5:30 – 7:00 pm. The Open Pool Test gives the Cornell and Ithaca community an opportunity to see last year’s vehicle maneuver through an obstacle course similar to the one at the competition.