Spring 2014 Apply Today! November 20, 2013 VOLUME 28 NO.8 Visit online at www.collegiannews.com
THE OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE STUDENTS SINCE 1987
One Small Step for T.I.M. GPC and Southern Polytechnic Partnership Attempts Function Test at Clarkston for Deep Sea Probe By Troi Charity Collegian Staff
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our years ago, William Howard and the GPC Computer Science and Engineering Club (CLASEC) created a deep sea probe prototype made out of foam. Howard now attends Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) and is one step closer to achieving his goal of receiving information from the world’s largest deepsea trench, the Mariana. “This is pretty much his [Howards] baby,” said GPC Professor Fredrick Buls who served as an adviser for the project. The partnership with GPC and SPSU tested the functions of the newly built vessel named Taking Images in Mariana (T.I.M.) on Nov. 17 in the Clarkston campus pool. To help with the transport of T.I.M. in and out of the water, Buls created a crane with 230 pounds as a counter balance. “We already did a test this past Saturday evening,” said Buls. “Things went well, but the onboard camera failed so that no underwater pictures were obtained. We also had a leak in one of the windows on the vessel late in the test. These two things ended the test prematurely, and this is why we're going back to the pool on Sunday.” The function experiment was to test the overall functionality of T.I.M which included its camera and video function, its reading of temperature and pressure and to determine if there are any leaks. The Mariana is approximately 6.7 miles deep and according to Howard, there are only a few vessels in existence that can make a similar trip. “The other vessels that are out today are intended to do everything,” said Howard. “ One thing we have noticed is the approach going deep into the ocean is similar to going to Mars.” TI.M. is approximately 400 pounds and after the function test is sealed tight. “Not any leaks,” said Howard. “After the camera test the vessel was completely dry on the inside.” The idea for the voyage to the Mariana came from the success of three M.I.T students photographing the earth with just simple materials and wanted to do the same. Howard pointed out that T.I.M. is M.I.T. spelled backwards. “Since there hasn’t been a similar system, why don’t we have that,” said Howard.” They went up, we are going down.”
William Howard preps T.I.M. for its camera function test on Nov. 17 at Photo by Troi Charity Clarkston Campus.
According to Howard, sub- the data and run the system. mersibles are battery powered and To prepare for conditions down not nuclear. in the Mariana, the team simulated “You can never get away with fish in red and black colors and sending something nuclear,” said tied them to a plastic pipe to test Howard. “ You have to use batter- T.I.M.’s photo and video quality. ies. Vessels that use batteries can They turned off lights only stay down for a short amount to see how well the camera of time.” captured information. T.I.M. has two battery compo“1600 feet down you’ve past the nents. One penetrabattery is tive limit of just for the sunlight,” computer said Howsystem and ard. another There that powers was a prefour 1,000 vious funcl u m e n tion test - William Howard flashlights. prior to Lumens is the measure of light in- the Clarkston testing. The tensity. results of the previous test Howard thinks that T.I.M. is showed there were leaks. able to stay submersed for approxi“This has been a constant for mately 72 hours and was build for four years,” said Howard “ Countless than $4,000 in materials. less hours, and 1 a.m. mornings. “One of the reasons it was built I’ve devoted a lot of my life.” so cheaply is because we used offHoward has gotten help from the-shelf items,” said Howard. companies with materials and T.I.M. has two layers. On the advice. inside there is a 12-inch diameter “Over the past few years, while carbon steel pipe and on the out- attending SPSU and working 3/4 side a 16-inch pipe of polycarbon- time, William has designed and ate, which is a plastic. Both pipes built the present version,” said Buls. are carbon steel, only the windows “To accomplish this, he's made are polycarbonate. use of several machine shops, he's The previous model was made asked a lot of advice from experts out of spray insulation foam with and has just spent a lot of time and 2 ½ inch thick plexiglass windows. effort in the process.” The older model helped shape SPSU students Ken Gibson, the newer model in many ways, ac- Zeeshan Chaudhary and Karl-loic cording to Howard. Kamdem are responsible for the “How we laid out some of the technology inside of T.I.M. computer equipment turned out to “We constructed the computer be pretty accurate,” said Howard. system,” said Kamdem. “We did A single standard SD Memory the sequence, picture taking, video card is planted inside to record all taking and collecting all that data
One thing we " have noticed is the
approach going deep into the ocean is similar to going to Mars.
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within the system.” The sequence Kamdem is referring to is T.I.M.’s ability to capture ratings every 10 seconds. Also T.I.M. flashes his lights every 10 seconds and captures images every minute. According to Howard, the reason is because there are a couple of species of fish that are not accustomed to light. In order to draw them near and record them the sequence is used to help them get used to light. T.I.M. went through three different testing stages that included an empty shell and then surfacing twice to gather data. “The main thing to prove is that it is reusable,” said Howard. “By dropping it into the ocean, pulling it out, getting the information and then dropping it again.” In Howards opinion the test was a success and that they are closer to reaching the Mariana. “We definitely achieved everything we wanted to achieve,” said Howard. “Everyone pulled off their parts and now we can do realworld testing. The team’s next test will take place at a rock quarry with a depth of approximate 38 feet. They assume that T.I.M. will sit probably between 30-35 feet beneath the surface. It will be intended to test its endurance for 72 hours of operation and functionality in cold water. Professor Buls explained how Howard plans to sink and resurface T.I.M. by using a bag of rocks and then barrels of diesel. “The idea is to use barrels of diesel because it’s less dense than seawater,” said Buls. Gasoline will provide buoyance. To take it down, they will use a bag of rocks and at some point the rocks will detach.” After the testing, Howard is going to keep increasing the depth level until he ultimately reaches the Mariana. Beforehand he plans to go to the Gulf of Mexico and then to the Pacific Ocean. Even if Howard doesn’t reach the Mariana he is still optimistic that someone will. “I’m positive that if we were to go there right now, that we have a 50/50 chance,” said Howard. Some of T.I.M.s readings included a temperature change within the vessel from 22 degrees Celsius to 42 degrees Celsius with clear picture while submersed. For more photos of the testing visit Collegiannews.com
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