The Carl Hayden team called its vehicle Stinky. For the people and the 2004 competition, start with the true story. Here, the focus is the machine.
Follow a command from the surface
- 1. OperatorChooses a movement
- 2. TetherCarries control signals
- 3. Onboard controlsDirect the motors
Camera views travel back to the surface → the operator adjusts.
What did the team actually build?
The team’s 2004 technical report describes a PVC frame, five trolling-motor thrusters, an onboard battery and a tether about 34 metres long. Two thrusters handled forward motion and turning, two handled vertical movement and tilt, and one moved the vehicle sideways. Cameras helped the operators see the work.
Keeping the battery close to the motors reduced voltage drop in the power path. The tether carried control, audio and video signals. The team also considered buoyancy and weight distribution when placing the battery and electronics housing. See the report’s printed pages 2–4 for the design and pages 16–17 for photographs.
These are details of the documented design, not a complete replica-building guide. A useful question is how each choice helps the robot perform a task—and what new problem that choice introduces.
Engineering includes explaining your work
The team’s competition account describes scoring for underwater tasks, a technical report, a presentation and a poster. Students had to explain their decisions as well as operate the robot. Read the Falcon Robotics account.
For a firsthand perspective, Science Friday’s 2015 interview with Cristian Arcega and author Joshua Davis connects the engineering with the people behind it.
Try a paper design challenge
Use the activity below after reading the guide. It takes about 15–20 minutes and needs only paper and a pencil. The print button prints the activity; your browser can also save it as a PDF.
Spare Parts / STEM activity
Design, explain, improve
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________
Your mission: design an imaginary remotely operated vehicle that retrieves a small sample from a pool floor. This is a paper exercise; no water or powered equipment is needed.
- Draw the system. Label the operator, tether, battery, motors, camera and sample tool. Use arrows to show commands going out and information coming back.
- Explain a trade-off. Choose where the battery goes. Give one benefit of that position and one possible drawback. Explain what you would test.
- Diagnose a failure. Your camera still works, but the vehicle will not move. List two possible causes and one observation that could help distinguish them.
- Use evidence. Choose one design decision from the original team report. Record its page number, then explain how it influenced your own design.
Original activity by SparePartsTheMovie.com. Teachers may print and share this activity for classroom use. There is no single correct design: assess clear reasoning, the feedback path and use of evidence.
Reading and source links: sparepartsthemovie.com/stinky-robot