Multibody Dynamics Simulation of ROV Manipulator Designed for Student Competition

摘要

Problem-based learning or competition driven learning is nowadays used by many universities and colleges as a key tool to motivate students in higher education. In the mechanical engineering discipline, for instance, Formula Student competition, annually organized by Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in United Kingdom, challenges student teams from around the globe to design, build and compete with a single-seat racing car. Similarly, Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center in USA organizes annual competitions to inspire students for marine education such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (referred to as STEM). University and High School students worldwide participate in this competition with a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), or underwater robots, they designed and built. In this competition, MATE acts as a client and student teams simulate a company that delivers a product in accordance with the client's stated functional requirements. In addition to the functional requirements or stated missions, the competition involves innovation in design, technical documentation, presentation, safety and marketing. In this paper, the kinematic analysis and multibody simulation of the manipulator of the ROV designed and constructed for the 2015 MATE competition that took place at St. John's in Canada is presented. The designed manipulator's kinematics while conducting the missions are studied and the motions and related loads are simulated using the multibody dynamics simulation tool ADAMS.