TECHNOLOGY

Supplemental Camera and Maneuvering Platform (SCAMP)

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Overview

The Space Systems Laboratory (SSL) does a lot of work underwater. It uses the underwater environment to simulate the weightlessness of space. Many of the activities are very complicated and require significant video coverage to adequately perform tasks.

The Supplemental Camera and Maneuvering Platform (SCAMP) was conceived to be a "sheep dog". It is a very small neutral buoyancy vehicle designed to provide an independently positionable video camera. An operator sits at a control station and operates SCAMP in the water. The operator uses two hand controllers to control SCAMP's motion while looking at the video and data returned from the vehicle on a computer monitor.

SCAMP is composed of a welded aluminum body made up of three parts, the center section and the end caps. The center section houses the on board power supply (batteries), the camera, all the electronics, four of the six ducted fan thrusters and a stabilization pendulum. The end caps house one thruster each and are used to close out the water tight pressure vessel and create the exterior shape of SCAMP which is an icosahexahedron (a 26 sided solid)--a design that achieves desired drag characteristics in water and is also cost effective to manufacture.

For more information, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization, 301-405-3947 or [email protected].

Contact Info

UM Ventures
0134 Lee Building
7809 Regents Drive
College Park, MD 20742
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (301) 405-3947 | Fax: (301) 314-9502