Bruin Underwater Robotics 

My first project upon joining BUR was refining and analyzing the onboard electronics housing, aka the "Ebay". This was a PVC tube that would be sealed at both ends to ensure all of the onboard electronics would be water tight and safe on board our bot. The design would utilize machined PVC fittings the would cap onto the ends of the PVC tube. These fittings would have a flanged end with holes for 8 screws, as well as a grove for an O-ring. 

My responsibilities for this component was to run Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on both the lid of the Ebay and the brackets holding it to the rest of the chassis in order to pick materials which would be able to hold up to their given task.

For the Ebay lid, I ran a simulation, mounting the lid at each of the through holes, and using a Pressure of 5.33 and 10 psi to test how much the lid will deform from the surrounding water pressure. If the lid deforms too much, this may cause a small leak to form within the Ebay. From my calculations, at the depth of an average swimming pool, about 20 ft, the pressure should not exceed about 5.33 psi. However, to be certain the lid won't deform too much, I also ran a simulation at 10 psi to ensure a factor of safety of around 2. From my tests, it was the clear that either a solid 3D printed plate, or PVC 0.25" PVC material would be stiff enough to not deform and cause leakage within the Ebay.