Direct Stakeholders

Our work in designing and constructing an autonomous surface vehicle affects many people and organizations. The first direct stakeholder is the W&L engineering department, which is our sole source of funding. We will rely heavily on equipment and other resources on campus as well as expert advice from W&L faculty to guide our design and manufacturing process. Because the department allowed us to pursue this goal, they also hold a risk in any potential safety concerns.  

Another cohort of stakeholders is the administrators and users of the W&L Natatorium, where we will test and operate our vehicle during development. Those in charge of the facility have taken a risk in letting us use the pool during open swim hours, despite potential safety concerns. Since we are dealing with electrical components floating above a pool, it is possible that electrical current enters the water if the boat capsizes, which presents a minor safety concern with increased risk for those who may have a pacemaker. If materials not intended for use in water clog the filter, the pool may have to shut down. This would be especially detrimental to the W&L swim team, and all those who rely on its operation for exercise.  

We also recognize that external parties who offer to lend equipment, such as our transmitter and receiver, to us for our projects are minor stakeholders as they are expecting these back in working condition.  

Indirect Stakeholders

Indirectly, future engineering students at W&L stand to benefit from our design work. The progress we make this year can be used as a launching point for future teams to improve upon. While we are not competing in the actual RoboBoat competition, it is possible that future students could take this step using our initial design. Aside from RoboBoat, our project may serve to inspire W&L students to become involved with robotics or seek out their own capstone projects just as we did with RoboBoat.  

A unique aspect of our project is the smaller budget we are working within, which is uncommon for most participants in the RoboBoat competition. A successful design would prove that tens of thousands of dollars is not necessary to create a functional ASV. Roboticists in general stand to benefit from cost effective methods of designing and constructing unmanned systems.  

Finally, as discussed, autonomous marine vehicles stand to improve environmental sustainability efforts. Our project can help to further advancements in this field, meaning our design work reaches stakeholders across the globe.  

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs when measured by fatalities per 100,000 workers [6]. Furthermore, water transportation jobs far outpace the national average [7]. There is a space to automate these tasks, or streamline them to the point of being remotely controlled, in order to improve safety conditions in these fields. All work in improving the autonomous navigation ability of sea craft is a step towards reducing these fatalities. It is important to consider that though these occupations are dangerous, implementing autonomous systems would likely replace the jobs of current workers in this industry, including captains and crews of fishing vessels.  

Finally, while assisted docking systems do exist [9], improvements to these systems as well as collision avoidance systems can increase safety in marinas. 

In summary, it is clear that our work in Capstone reaches far beyond the classroom.