Background Information

The Problem

Many marine biologists and chemists require the collection of water samples to conduct research on the conditions of various bodies of water. The primary method of sample collection is by hand from a boat or shore. Samples are also taken using tools such as Kemmerer bottles or underwater drones, but must be deployed manually and utilize a tether. Although these methods have been the norm in the past, there is now concern that the vehicles used to take these samples disrupt the environment unnecessarily, and may even contaminate the samples taken. In addition, areas that should be tested for water quality are left untouched because they are inaccessible by boat or dangerous to access from land. Therefore, we must create a vehicle able to access bodies of water remotely, take a pure water sample with negligible environmental impact, and return the sample to the user for testing.

The Customers

The projected costumers of the product are research scientists, marine biologists or chemists, ecologists, park employees, or any person interested in marine research. These customers need samples to analyze in order to determine the healthiness of an ecosystem. Our product will be capable of sampling water remotely. These samples must be brought to a laboratory to be tested.

The Case

This case must be addressed because contaminated data is a big problem in the scientific world. Scientists want the purest data for accurate testing. Improper data can cause fluctuations in results that require retesting and waste money. These fluctuations in results can lead to larger errors later on that build on the problem. In addition, most scientists have the best interests of nature at heart, and providing a cost effective way to take pure samples with minimal environmental impact addresses all of these issues.

 The Stakeholders

The stakeholders of the project are those willing to contribute their time and possibly money to our project in order to receive a completed product that will benefit them in the future. These stakeholders could be those in charge of research facilities, employees of those research facilities, those in scientific disciplines, as well as those invested in our project because of interest in our goal for the project. 

The Mood

The intended moods that we wish to show in our project are efficiency, reliability, and durability. We want our quad-copter to be efficient in all of its methods in order to become a realistic source of water collection. We want the quad-copter to be reliable so that scientists in the field can feel confident in the data they receive. Finally we would like to craft a durable product capable of surviving the difficulties of water collection.