Homebuilt ROVs Forum

The "old fashioned" way of finding depth is to have a little air line running down to the ROV with the end open so the air just bubbles out. Then the air pressure in the hose can be measured at the control station and that pressure will tell you the depth of the ROV. (Depth in feet = PSI *...

Does your circuit have a freewheel diode? It's a diode wired across the terminals of the motor, and oriented against the direction of the current flow. This means when the motor is being powered the diode will be "off". When the MOSFET breaks the flow of current (turns off) the motor's ind...

The problem you're experiencing runs deep into the theory of motor control. That being said, when I was learning about building motor controllers it seemed almost a dark art; there was no simple explanation for anything... The squealing sound you described is normal for a motor controller. Commercia...

Compass module:
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Sensors/C ... fault.aspx

Very cool! Best of luck to you!

Here's a circuit for driving those relays. These are the parts and why they're there: 2N3904 Transistor: This is the transistor of course, the 2N3904 is a general purpose NPN transistor you can find almost anywhere. Flyback Diode: when you shut off the current to the relay the coil lets off a pulse ...

If you need more than 1 amp you can just 'gang up' (wire in parallel) the 7805's. Yes, the 7805 is not efficient... but I've never found that to be an issue on this power scale... the bigger issue is usually flooding... in which case the 7805 won't even know it's submersed in water, and will just ke...

Try an LM7805(Or just "7805"). It's a Three pin component that you can get at Radioshack for $2. It's not a DC-DC converter, it's a Regulator... basically it changes it's resistance real-time to maintain a steady voltage. You can input any voltage from 5V to 30V and you will get a 5V outpu...

Using a battery charger won't give you good results. A typical battery charger consists of a transformer (to step the voltage down) and a diode(s) to "rectify" the current. But AC (at least here in the united states) is cycling at 60 times per second, then the diode only allows current to ...

I used an accelerometer for just this purpose on my last MATE competition ROV. I used a $10.00 3-axis accelerometer.... can't remember the manufacturer/part number though. There's a couple of things to overcome though. First, though gravity pulls down, the accelerometer will respond to the accelerat...