radon@eng.ui.ac.id
2008 – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2012 – Tokyo Institute of Technology. Japan
2015 – Tokyo Institute of Technology. Japan
Before the innovation of an underwater drone, a professional diver was hired to inspect a sailing vessel.
The topic of this study was Electro-Mechanical System. It combined processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. It was applied in fields such as robotics, mechatronics, electro-mechanical design. and electromechanical phenomena producing several innovative solutions
Aimed at answering industrial interests, this study combined mechanical and electrical engineering aspects to develop Remotely-Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROV) or Underwater Drones used in various underwater activities. This study focused on the need for visual inspection of the sailing vessel hulls at a low cost. Due to the age of global development, aerial drones have reached the commercialization stage, marked by some companies providing those devices on the market. However, underwater drones are still in their early stages of development.
Therefore, these drones are still limitedly produced commercially. An underwater drone may serve as an underwater mapping and archeological scavenging device generally used to survey areas or collect objects in a hard-reached location. Inspecting a sailing vessel, including its hulls, is a crucial activity regulated by the government. In 2018, new data in relation to the opportunities for an underwater drone niche that could also be used to inspect a hull were obtained. It was more feasible for a developing country to conduct studies starting from a more straightforward problem.
In addition to the underwater field, this study also presented an innovation in the medical field in the form of a modified hospital bed aimed at making it easier for a nurse to mobilize his or her patient. It usually takes three to four nurses to move a patient in a day with a conventional hospital bed. In this study, we made an innovation in the form of a modified drivetrain system and additional electric motor making it lighter and more manageable for just a nurse to operate it, so more nurses could be optimized to serve other patients at the hospital.
This topic was deemed to be more straightforward since a hull inspection only requires about five-meter depth shallow water. Previously, a sailing vessel inspection was carried out by a professional diver from a surveyor company. It was aimed at inspecting the form of low-cost visuals.
Due to the water‘s relatively shallow depths, a drone can dive into the water, navigate a vessel‘s hull, and take its vertical and horizontal images. That action is easier and simpler since a person does not have to dive into deep water. Moreover, a fully autonomous mobile drone is not needed. With this, an operator can control and run that underwater drone. However, the results of those visual images are still in the testing and design perfection processes.
There will be a ground station and a cable to transfer the data as to what is planned. 80% of the drone components are produced using a 3D printer. Although still in its initial prototype, this drone is strong enough to dive into 2-meter-deep water. Its mechanical challenges lie in the design and manufacturing considering the water impermeability, so some parts of the drone are prone to leaking. It is currently still in the testing stage to determine which seal is the most suitable to be used on the drone. Accordingly, silicon is the best choice.
Moreover, mechanical challenges also lie in the proper control system to provide smooth maneuverability and not be affected by a water wave. Among those in need of design is the design of the thruster. Several issues come up, such as how many thrusters are required to make the drone go back and forth, up and down and so on. Meanwhile, the electrical challenges in this ROV lie in the determination of power supply systems, motors, sensors, and components to take visual images and to communicate with the operator in the ground station. Our research team is currently pursuing an initial prototype. We hope that in two or three years the model will be ready to use.