Disaster Strikes!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Our 3-D printed mechanical fuse for the RTU coupling cracked and broke, taking our thruster to the bottom of Gloucester harbor.

Justin: Mike, the vehicle is going in circles instead of forward. Can you check the connection to the thruster?
Mike: Sure.
(Pause)
Mike: What thruster?

It would have ordinarily been retained by the electrical cable but ... we had just set it up to unplug rather than put strain on the other cable. "Whoops" doesn't quite capture the disappointment.