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Advanced Circuits Sponsorship! DVL housing finished
So I'd like to start off this entry with some very exciting news: we are now being sponsored by Advanced Circuits!
R@M has been making use of the student deals offered through the 33each and 66each service since the club began, and we have always enjoyed the quality of manufacturing in the final product: Tortuga! Because all of our non-integrated electronics are custom designed and built, our robot is built on Advanced Circuits' technology. Now what did Advance Circuits sponsor us with? I'm glad you asked!
The eqcologics board
Since we are now developing new camera modules with Sidus Solutions, we need new electronics to power this device. We have designed a compact (1.45"x2.75") electronics section which is capable of transmitting 400Mbps firewire through the bulkheads using TC Technologies eqcologics chip. Currently, the boards are still being built (as shown above), and only have one of the three power sections populated. But we can now confirm that we properly designed the switching power supply section! We'll be debugging this design over the coming week and we're hoping to confirm any serious design mistakes quickly so that we can move forward with mechanical designs.
And finally some big progress jumps tempered with setbacks: the DVL housing has been completed! Longer rails had to be added to accommodate the addition, which was completed and the robot has been rebalanced.
Chris and Dan, installing the DVL
Unfortunately, after getting everything installed it turned out there was an issue with the cable connecting the main electronics to the transducer element. The offending cable has been sent back to Teledyne for repairs, and we're hoping to have the DVL taking measurements in the water soon!
Tortuga, ready for action!