Unit 8: Seaperch Reflection

The Iterative Design Loop: Understanding that "failure" in a test is simply a data point used to improve the next design.

Root Cause Analysis: Learning to distinguish between a symptom (the ROV moved slowly) and a cause (the wax in the motor housing created too much internal friction).

Technical Communication: How to translate a physical experience into a professional report or presentation.

Preventative Maintenance: The importance of "freshwater rinses" and drying to prevent galvanic corrosion on marine equipment.

The "Teardown" Inspection: Carefully disassemble the ROV, checking the motor seals for any water ingress and the PVC joints for stress fractures.

Data Comparison: Compare their final "Challenge" times against their initial "Mission Proposals" to see if their ROV performed as predicted.

The "Design Redo" Sketch: Redraw their ROV frame, incorporating three specific changes they would make if they had to start the class over again (e.g., "I would move the vertical thruster 2 inches forward to stop the nose-diving").

Equipment Salvage: Properly clean, dry, and organize the reusable components (control boxes, motors, and remaining PVC) for the next class.

• The "Mission Debrief" Presentation: A 5-minute team presentation or a 2-page "After Action Report" (AAR).

• Success Criteria: The report must include:

  1. The High Point: The most successful moment of the build or challenge.

  2. The "Critical Failure": A specific technical problem they encountered and how they "field-fixed" it.

  3. The Engineering Advice: One piece of "Expert Advice" they would give to next year’s students to help them avoid the same mistakes.