Homebuilt ROVs Forum

Hello, what you are trying to build will probably cost between $800 and $2000 depending on the complexity, features, and how much you have already (like the battery, camera, tether, etc...). I would suggest building something similar to Steve Thone's SeaFox retrofit (http://www.homebuiltrovs.com/sea...

I am building my first deep diving rov and I am not sure how powerful my lights need to be or if they should be halogen/LED. I am expecting to go to about 30m and the water has 10-15 foot visibility, so I am looking for options. Also, I have a tight budget so preferably something under $30. Any idea...

You could use the easy but feature lacking Google sketch-up or I would also recommend a free CAD-like program called progeCAD Smart.

What if you used a air dredge? It works by blowing a small amount of air into a tube and the air rising creates a vacuum and therefore, suction. It would be difficult to construct but wound be less likely to harm the jellyfish.

I am planning to use a vex claw (http://www.vexrobotics.com/276-2212.html) for my ROV's manipulator but I do not know if the vex motor (http://www.vexrobotics.com/276-2181.html) can be waterproofed like other servos (as shown here: http://www.societyofrobots.com/actuators_waterproof_servo.shtml). Be...

To use computer fan blades for powerful thrusters, you can mount them to a rc brushless motor and buy a motor controller for it at a relatively cheap price, making a good thruster:

Link (watch the 3 videos on the page):
http://www.submarineboat.com/building_rov_bart.htm

Yes, you can use a servo coupler because the edges of the square Vex shafts are rounded as shown on:

http://www.vexforum.com/showthread.php?t=2587

I have found it to be waterproof in all my tests to but even if water got into the main jacket, you can still strip and epoxy the wires in the waterproof cable penetrator (as shown in the sealing exit wires in the how to section: http://www.homebuiltrovs.com/howtosealingwireexits.html)

A suggestion for water tests:
I have used a Easy cap video capture unit ($10, google it) before for robotics projects and have had a lot of success with it. It converts your RCA input to USB for your computer and comes with some cheap, but functional recording software to capture the footage.

Here is a good option: http://www.harborfreight.com/general-merch/security/weatherproof-color-security-camera-with-night-vision-95914.html This is a 40 dollar camera set from harbor freight that has a ir color camera and includes a phone cable and adapters to transmit video through the phone cable (...