Project AmphiPod Needs Your Help!
Support Nick's Journey and Future Opportunities
I'm a 3rd year Electrical Engineering student currently taking on my first major engineering project! Project Amphipod is an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) built to aid conservation and security efforts alike using onboard sensors and EDGE AI, but I need your help to make it happen. Components, materials, and tools are expensive for a full-time engineering student to self fund. If we have excess funding, I can start bringing on additional students to expand the benefit beyond my journey alone. Make a difference, see the change, and be pillar in supporting the start of a fruitful career!
Project Description
What I'm Building
Project AmphiPod is an AUV that utilizes onboard sensors, logic, and camera to detect objects of interest, create easy to understand logs in natural language, take timestamped images, and collect environmental data such as pressure and temperature.These missions will be fully autonomous and range between 1-2 hours in length. I will be developing my own AHRS stack in order for vessel navigation as well as my own control logic for carrying out missions.The inner diameter of the vessel will be 130mm and the overall length will be roughly 900mm. Propulsion will come from a single Blue Robotics T200 thruster while steering will be done through servo adjusted fins. For the hull, there will be an aluminum dry hull for the bulk of the sensitive electronics and power system, then a 3d printed flooded enclosure will house the servos and external sensors.
Current rendering of proposed AUV system made in Autodesk Fusion.
Projected Expense Categories
| Item | Cost | Item | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fabrication & Prototyping | $1,200.00 | Sensors & Navigation Hardware | $1,000.00 |
| Servos & Thrusters | $1,300.00 | Wiring, Connectors, Seals | $400.00 |
| Testing & Replacement Parts | $400.00 | PCB & Microcontrollers | $1,200.00 |
Initial Funding Goal: $5,500.00
Project Motivation
Why I'm Building It
Engineering Skills and Education
Unlike most degrees, studying engineering requires action and effort far beyond the classroom. While grades help prove base knowledge and academic ability, projects are required to show technical depth. Some core skills I hope to develop are circuit design and analysis, sensor integration, PCB design, signal processing, control systems and many more! Currently, as the sole member of this project, I am tasked with learning every needed for the development and deployment of a newly developed autonomous system.
Where I Hope This Project Leads
Everything built in this project will be open-sourced. With everything from the motivation, code, and design being publicly available, I hope to add to the resources made free to students as they create their own projects and learn core skills. This project will be documented via updates on short form media as well as more technical long form Youtube videos.For my own benefit, this project serves as proof of my skills and engineering ability. Companies and institutions will be able to reference the materials and see the project through every stage of develop. As a result, I hope to secure more and more competitive positions as I apply to internships and research opportunities.
Support The Project
Click below to contribute to the project, every bit of support helps and sends me further on my engineering journey. You may support me through my GoFundMe or through direct contributions!
Interested in contributing by check, bank transfer, or sponsoring a larger project expense? Contact me below!
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Contact Me!
Have any questions on the project or how best to support? Message me below!
Thank you for your interest
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