History
2023
An ASV with a side-scan sonar that successfully mapped the depths of Dana Point.
An AUV that measured light intensity at different colors vs. depth with an unusually good calibration scheme involving a Go-Pro that descended with the AUV.
2019
Students built a microscope that operated during an ASV deployment. The video from the microscope, and consultation with a microbiologist, allowed the team to identify a variety of marine microbes.
2018
A cleverly designed bottom crawler used powerful motors and a tethered surface skiff to map depth along accurate trajectories.
An ASV used a particle filter based navigation and error correction system to achieve unusually good trajectory accuracy.
2017
An acoustic beacon tracker deployed in the Mudd test tank. The oscillations in it’s trajectory are characteristic of angle control based on stereo sensors, and the team had a MATLAB model which showed the same behavior.
A wind-measuring ASV did an exceptionally good job of sensor calibration, including using the wind tunnel to calibrate sensors.
Older Versions of E80
E80 has a long history, and any success of the current version is due to building on its predecessors:
- 2009-2016: E80 was based on building and launching rockets under Erik Spjut and Mary Cardenas. See here
- 2000-2009: E80 was based on field experiments where students struck bridges with impact hammers under Ziyad Duron.
- Pre-2000: E54 saw students complete a variety of experiments under a long list of professors, including an infamous bucket-based clock. See an old lab manual here