Project RoboGoby
Why did four students choose to take on a real world engineering project that was bound to take a long time and have innumerable challenges? "For the love of engineering and problem solving," the "room for innovation" and to prove it is possible to do big things even in high school.
Four FHS students, Josef Biberstein, Travis Libsack, Nick Nelsonwood, and Liam Wade, have been working on a remotely operated vehicle(ROV)/autonomous underwater vehicle(AUV) research submersible. The self guided project was born out of the Advanced Project Design(APD) class that FHS offers. At the end of last year the former FHS teacher Mr. Amory gave the class the idea of pursuing their own project with real world application. A few of the students immediately took hold of the opportunity and have been running with it since.
Biberstein was drawn in because he "enjoys doing science and engineering projects that allow [him] to develop skills which [he] can use in future projects," a sentiment shared by the whole team.
Libsack and Wade were further motivated by, respectively, a "love for engineering and problem solving" and for "being rewarded for thinking outside the box."
The specific project of creating an ROV/AUV submersible was decided on by a vote after looking at a few options. Mr. Amory helped to come up with a few feasible, interesting, and fun projects, the students then did some research and chose which project they wanted to pursue. The submersible was chosen for having "the most potential for innovation in its market," and because it would, as Travis eluded to, be pretty cool to be able to see places which not many people have seen before.
The foursome remain split on whether the workload is the same as was expected. Libsack and Biberstein felt the project would take the time commitment it currently demands, but it has left Wade and Nelsonwood surprised by the time it takes, or the effects that time has on ones other activities.
As Josef Bibertstein said, as a group "we meet everyday in school to discuss our next steps and the progress so far." On top of that there is usually at least one meeting of the minds after school each week and always at least a small contingency meeting for 3-10 hours each weekend. Though the time commitment has been large the whole group agreed that the time has been well spent, and that the project is for the most part quite fun.
Some of the better parts have included "becoming an incorporated Limited Liability Corporation (Wade)," "when we first got our wireless camera feed working (Biberstein)," and more generally "creating something and having it do what you want it to (Libsack)." Another important component of making the project fun is that the groups functions as a cohesive unit and everyone is able to be "working on the project and joking at the same time," as Libsack said. He also feels, and his sentiments are no doubt shared by all four, that he is "working with the most interesting, funny, and smart group of guys out there."
Most recently the quartet has been features in the Tri-Town weekly and has interviewed with WSCH 6.
Written by Nick Nelsonwood
