Project Brief

Hayes Hofman

The doombah is used to destroy stumps and remove them from the LSU lakes, making it easier to dredge them. It is made from three main parts, two upside down T frames, a main, flat body, and a sawblade array. The T-frames are attached to the edges, and are used to hold together the gears and the treads which are used to move the bot. The main body consists of a thin, flat board connecting the two T frames. Attached to the body are two arms, which hold an array of sawblades and the motor used to turn them.

The LSU Lakes are very shallow, and the large build up of the flocculent layer will only make it shallower. To fix this we need to dredge the lake and remove the built up sediment, but this is impossible due to the large amount of stumps in the lakes. One proposed method for removing the stumps would be to drain all of the water out of the Lakes and then remove the stumps, but this would create an eyesore where the lakes used to be. The lakes are a major drawing point for LSU, so they would rather the lakes not be drained at all. Our bot would circumvent the draining of the lakes by removing the stumps while under water, allowing the lakes to stay full while being dredged. People would still be able to enjoy the lakes while we removed the stumps, making it better for everyone. 

Our project would be used by companies like GEC, who oversee the restoration of the lakes and need to dredge the lakes. Our bot uses basic tread designs to move and an array of saw blades to cut into the stumps. Our bot is designed to move underwater, and would be remote controlled by someone on the shore. We would mount lights and cameras onto the front of the bot so that the person would be able to see the stumps.