MuddSub, Harvey Mudd’s underwater robotics team · Member since Aug 2025 · Co-President, Mechanical since 2026
MuddSub: Crush Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
MuddSub is a fully student-run team that competes each year at RoboSub against 50+ international teams. Crush is our new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). As mechanical co-president, my job is to turn our existing design into a vehicle we can actually manufacture, assemble, seal, and test, building on the team’s past design work. I lead the mechanical and mission-actuator teams, mentor members directly, and machine parts myself.
Role: Co-President, Mechanical · Mentoring: 36 members, ~23 active · Hands-on: enclosure design & panel machining · Tools: SolidWorks, engineering drawings, manual mill · Status: enclosure fabrication
Picking up a legacy design
I started by working through legacy CAD, fabrication documentation, seal calculations, and handoff notes. I sorted out what already existed, what needed rework, and which decisions still needed checking. The rule I’ve worked by since: a drawing records design intent, not verified behavior. Before we treat an old calculation as a manufacturing instruction, we review it with experienced members and shop staff. I turned that audit into specific work packages: panel machining, lid repair, latch alignment, dowel-located assembly, sealing interfaces, electronics mounts, and mission actuators.
The electronics enclosure
I helped design Crush’s electronics enclosure and designed the first mounts for its ZED 2i stereo camera, which we’re now reworking into adjustable, modular mounts. I’m also in the machine shop making the enclosure’s panels. The panels will be located with dowels, welded, and then machined again after welding. That’s why our drawings reference features to each panel’s bottom and sides: the tops get machined later. Dimensions that depend on the latches stay provisional until we test the real hardware, so other drawing work can keep moving.
Checking the latches against reality
The existing lid needs rework. Some old holes run deep enough to create leak paths, and our new latch needs different mounting holes. The CAD may not match the purchased latch’s real closed geometry, so we’re building a fit-check rig: simplified panels of equal height on the existing baseplate, to confirm the lid closes evenly at every latch. This first check is about geometry only, so we leave the O-ring out; whether the seal is tight enough is a separate test.
Waterproofing: four seals to verify
Crush uses four different sealing methods: welded wall seams, a flat baseplate gasket, O-rings on the lid and camera window, and sealed cable penetrators. I’m working through the open questions with the team:
- Gasket compression, including narrow sections near screw holes
- Window thickness and screw engagement
- Latch clamping force
- Surface prep and how anodizing affects sealing
- Countersunk screws clearing the bellypan
Our plan is fit check, then an approved tightening procedure, then a leak test of the empty enclosure before any electronics go inside.
Electronics integration
I’m guiding the design of internal supports and adjustable electronics mounts built on poka-yoke (mistake-proofing) principles. The camera mounts adjust their distance from the windows, so the software team can tune optical performance. We’re also checking existing printed housings, component clearances, cable routing, and maintenance access.
Mission actuators
I also guide the gripper and torpedo team. Before choosing the next design, we’re reviewing inherited work: earlier spring-launch torpedo tests, an unfinished flywheel concept, and past gripper prototypes. Next we’ll focus on retention, release, mounting, and underwater behavior, with bench tests first and then in the water.
How I run the team
Working with the leadership team, I reorganized how the mechanical, electrical, and software teams share work. On the mechanical side, I split work into five subteams: enclosure and fabrication, waterproofing, vehicle layout and thruster mounting, electronics mounts, and mission actuators. I built a tracker of 30 tasks with owners, dependencies, deadlines, and open design questions, backed by a master timeline we update weekly. Meetings now run on short technical presentations, so anyone, newcomers included, can share drawings, research, prototypes, or lessons learned. I follow up with agendas and emails listing specific deliverables. I mentor about 36 mechanical members hands-on in SolidWorks, engineering drawings, machining, prototyping, electronics integration, and waterproofing; roughly 13 machine with me consistently, and 10 more work on mission actuators.
What’s next
- Done: Create mechanical drawings & machining plans
- Verify latch geometry
- Machine panels & lid rework
- Assemble & leak-test seals
- Electronics integration
- Actuator prototypes in the water