Depth Gage for the electronically challenged

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jscott83
Posts: 27
Joined: Jan 6th, 2017, 6:40 pm

Depth Gage for the electronically challenged

Post by jscott83 »

I'm looking into info on adding a depth gage to my ROV (unbuilt yet) I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it. I can build about anything and wire electrical but when it comes to small electrical I'm lost.Is there a simple way of going about it or does everything involve circut boards and such? I'd like it to be digital.
Thanks for any help and picture and links also very welcomed.
Scott
aDub
Posts: 8
Joined: Nov 18th, 2017, 6:18 pm

Re: Depth Gage for the electronically challenged

Post by aDub »

You could use some string if you really don't want to go down the electronic path :lol:
You might want to look at Arduino, WeMos etc. They are very cheap and powerful. Personally I'd recommend Assembler, but the Arduino IDE is very quick to pick up - lots of samples and tutorials. Well worth the investment in time.

You could then use a load-cell or a chip designed as an altimeter/barometric sensor. Encased in a sealed case (could be open at the bottom for better sensitivity), the air pressure will increase with depth in a linear fashion

That's the easy bit ;) making a working device may be a little more tricky!
The beauty of using a microcontroller is it's low cost, small size, simple power requirements and the ability to prototype very quickly.

Here's some links to a couple from millions of examples on the net.
https://ccollins.wordpress.com/2013/12/ ... h-arduino/
http://www.theorycircuit.com/barometric ... -tutorial/

(i'd probably go for a nano rather than the devices shown, but...)

Once you have a microcontroller, you could then do other fun stuff like logging data for very little extra outlay.

HTH

ADub
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