Hi, I’m wondering if anyone has built an underwater ROV (hobby-sized, not one of the ten-ton rigs the big boys use) and what problems you ran into. Particularly interested in how you kept the water away from the electronics and what kind of umbilical you used.
@tomwilliamson Welcome to the RobotShop Community. Tried to build one back in ~2003 as a side project. The design was adapted from iRobot’s seaglider but was meant to use two propellers rather than a variable buoyancy tank. I was lucky enough to be given access to a compression molding machine to make the shell, and I had access to a machining lab to create a custom threaded center section to be able to access the electronics. The design used o-rings and shaft seals for the two DC motors (used Maxon) and RC servos which were tethered to an entirely all too rudimentary handheld controller.
Q) what problems you ran into
A) yeah…
- Don’t rush or throw caution to the wind (as I did when I became too excited to test)
- Test the frame in a bathtub, then a pool, then open water and check for bubbles
- Check for the center of mass and adjust it for a variety of situations.
- Add a secondary tether in case the primary one detaches or breaks
Regarding custom ROVs these days, look up OpenROV and Blue ROV which have a ton of information about building custom ROVs.
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Great information! Thank you. I’ll check out those sources and I’ll be sure to test!
I’ll post pics as soon as I have something to show.
Tom,
I’ve made a lot of camera housings.
I want to build an ROV, maybe put it on kickstarter.com.
I have a boat and a workshop in Miami, FL.
Easiest to contact me at [email protected]
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