Product category: Batteries and Chargers
News Release from: PowerGenix | Subject: NiZn battery packs
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 16 June 2005
Battery donation helps students on route
to final
Innovative nickel-zinc batteries have helped high school students from University of San Diego High School to win a regional competition of underwater remote operated vehicles.
PowerGenix, a leading developer of high-rate discharge, rechargeable nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries, recently assisted local high school students from University of San Diego High School (USDHS) to win a regional competition of underwater remote operated vehicles (ROV) by providing them with its innovative nickel-zinc batteries The unique characteristics of the PowerGenix nickel zinc battery enabled the team to incorporate an "onboard" power module eliminating the need for bulky power cables between a land based power source and the ROV
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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This design gave the ROV greatly increased maneuverability.
as it was piloted through a series of complex tasks during the competition.
The regional event held last month at the UCSD Natatorium and sponsored by Marine Advanced Technology Education centre (MATE) in partnership with the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Centre Sonny Carter Training, is designed to increase awareness of marine technical fields and to encourage students to develop the necessary skills for a career in marine technology.
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As part of the competition, team members Juan Batiz-Benet, Michael MacIntyre, Nicholas Prsha and Dominic Schmied had to design and develop an ROV capable of carrying out a series of underwater manoeuvres.
Using their own money, scrap parts and a few donated pieces of equipment, the 16 and 17-year olds successfully built an operational ROV.
The ROV needed the mechanical flexibility to complete three unique tasks that simulated real world scenarios where ROV are in use today.
Uising a computer joy stick control, video cameras, and a moveable claw, the ROV had to: cap an oil well, attach a communications probe, and amend a part of the Hubble space telescope.
Between each task, the "pit-crew" had five minutes to modify the ROV and prepare it for the next task.
The ROV had to be durable and powerful yet extremely agile to effectively finish each task in less than five minutes.
Due to the sophistication and power-hungry needs of the ROV, one of the challenges the team faced was relocating the primary power for the ROV, from an external location that was traditionally "topside" and consisted of bulky lead-acid batteries (similar to car batteries) along with a cumbersome tether, to a location onboard the ROV itself.
The team wanted the advantages of onboard power, but needed to incorporate it into the design of the vehicle in a way that didn't compromise the buoyancy or maneuverability of the ROV.
The PowerGenix high energy density NiZn battery packs proved to be the key to solving this design challenge.
The significantly smaller and lighter weight batteries were packaged in a waterproof container and attached to the vehicle.
The high power and very low impedance design of the PowerGenix battery provided plenty of onboard power enabling the use of a more sophisticated propulsion system.
In addition, the number of extravehicular cables was reduced to a single coaxial cable for communication between the ROV and the topside control box - greatly enhancing the control and manoeuvrability of the ROV.
"We spent 1000 hours developing our ROV, and it couldn't have been possible without the support of the community", commented team member Nicholas Prsha.
"Many thanks go to PowerGenix for donating their nickel-zinc battery packs".
"The batteries were exactly what we needed to have reliable power onboard the ROV.
Due to the high power, small size and low weight of these batteries, it gave us the opportunity to use the motors for more thrust and vertical maneuverability allowing us to successfully complete our mission".
"We could not have achieved this using conventional lead-acid or nickel-cadmium batteries".
This project enabled the teenagers to learn and hone technical skills such as writing assembler computer code, using microcontrollers, surface mount soldering, and incorporating the use of sophisticated electronic components and batteries in the development of video, control, propulsion and ballast systems.
In addition, the project helped the team members further develop their brainstorming, organisational and time management skills.
"These students are our future engineers and scientists", stated Dan Squiller, CEO of PowerGenix.
"Their ROV was an amazingly sophisticated system and we were more than happy to donate our batteries to the USDHS team".
"We are thrilled that they were able to contribute to the winning design of their ROV".
"These sophisticated systems are prime examples of applications that can greatly benefit from the lighter weight, higher power and environmental friendliness that our nickel-zinc battery offers over other battery technologies currently available such as nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride".
In their third year of competing, the USDHS team was determined to win.
"In the first two years of competition, minimal planning went into the project and we encountered numerous problems with very little time to fix them".
"This year, months of planning and brainstorming reduced the time lost during the design and building process".
"When technical problems occur, checking all possible problems helps to find the true deterrent and optimal solution", commented team member Dominic Schmied.
Competing against six other regional teams, the USDHS group spent a total of $449.70 to design and develop their ROV.
Using borrowed and donated systems, scrap parts, salvaged cameras and lab space donated by DeepSea Power and Light along with engineering trial and error, the team was successful in building and operating the winning ROV.
The combination of technical prowess, youthful enthusiasm an d guidance from a few adult mentors, enabled the USDHS to win the regional competition.
The team now goes on to the national 4th Annual ROV Competition, from 17th to 19th June at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Centre located in Houston, Texas where they will face winners from 28 regional competitions.
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