Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

What are you working on .... Show off your Rov's Projects here.
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,
This last weekend I got the IMU/Depth Sensor Module attached to its mount on the front vertical support plate for the Vertical Thruster and the leads solder and sealed to the their respective wires in the wire harness.

Image
IMU/Depth Sensor Module viewed from below
Image
IMU/Depth Sensor Module viewed from above

Then I attached the 2.8 Controller Board to the ROV wire harness, connected up the Tether to my laptop and then connected up the batteries. After connecting the Topside Adapter's USB cable to my laptop the OpenROV Cockpit appeared on the laptop display after about a minute or so. I then completed the Guide 5 Finishing Operations Steps 78 - 92 of the OpenROV 2.8 to calibrate the lasers. Since I am using Blue Robotics (BR) T100 Thrusters that cannot be run out of the water for very long, I skipped the Guide 5 Finishing Operation Steps 93 - 95 Motor Direction until I have the ROV chassis in my Association swimming pool. I also verified the operation and calibration of the IMU/Depth Sensor Module using the Forum instruction here.

Moving on to the OpenROV Operators Manual I verified the operation of the OpenROV Cockpit Display using Steps 15 - 25 which includes configuration of the batteries.

At this point I will run ballast and trim tests on the hybrid ROV chassis to ensure that the ROV chassis is just buoyant enough to be slightly awash on the surface and that it is level in the water.

More to come.

Regards,
SSN626B/TCIII
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,
A week ago last Saturday I completed the battery tray for the two NMHi 4500 mah 9.6 vdc batteries that will be housed in the Battery WTC. The battery tray slides into the Battery WTC and is compressed between the two WTC End Caps so it will not slide around. The tray sits in the WTC tube just above the two power cables at the far end of the WTC tube.

Now I am ready to perform ballast/trim testing in my Association's swimming pool which I hope will occur tomorrow if it does not rain too much. I found that the 2.8 Controller Board weighs around 12 oz so I have 12 oz of lead weights sitting on the ROV Chassis just behind the OROV Controller Board WTC. I decided to to test the watertight integrity of the OROV WTC without the Controller Board in case there is a first time leak issue.

Below are a couple of pictures of the Battery Tray with and without the batteries:
Image
Bare Battery Tray
Image
Batteries on Tray

More to come

Regards,
SSN626B/TCIII
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,

Since the weekend I have been working on ballasting/trimming the Hybrid BR/OROV ROV Chassis. Due to the OROV Controller Board WTC being that the front of the ROV chassis I had to offset its 90 cu inches of buoyancy with a 2 in inside diameter PVC SCH 40 capped pipe that brought the ROV chassis trim to near perfect awash. I found that all I needed was around 4 oz of ballast at the front of the ROV chassis, after the addition of the PVC pipe, to complete the trimming process.

As can be seen in the following pictures, the top of the Vertical Thruster's impeller is just under the surface when the ROV chassis is ballasted to being just awash. The two 2 oz lead weights can be seen in a plastic bag sitting on the top of the OROV WTC. There are 12 oz of lead weights in the OROV WTC to simulate the weight of the 2.8 Controller Board. And yes, the batteries are in the place in the BR Battery WTC. By the way, my test tank is a 38 gallon storage bin.
Image
ROV Chassis Side View 1
Image
ROV Chassis Side View 2
Image
ROV Chassis Front View
This weekend I plan to install the 2.8 Controller Board in the OROV WTC, hook up the batteries and check out the Controller Board functions including the Thrusters and the IMU/Pressure Sensor Module.

During the functional checkout I found that I needed just 2 oz of lead weight just to the right and slightly below the OROV WTC to bring the chassis to being just awash fore and aft and trim from side to side.
Image

More to come.

Regards,
SSN626B/TCIII
Last edited by SSN626B on Nov 13th, 2016, 1:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,

I am pleased to announce that I successfully tested the functionality of my Hybrid ROV yesterday in my 38 gal test fixture. Everything went as expected in relation to thruster, camera, and light functionality. The only thing I had to change was the direction of the two horizontal thrusters. At a thrust setting of 2, the thrusters appear to have plenty of thrust to move the ROV chassis up/down and forwards/backwards to my satisfaction.

I will be taking the ROV to the Association swimming pool for some real testing as soon as I get the tether cable reel completed. I am building a tether reel similar to this one: https://forum.openrov.com/t/tether-mana ... thers/2710.

More to come.

Regards,
SSN626B/TCIII
Last edited by SSN626B on Nov 19th, 2016, 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,

Tomorrow is the big day for my BR/OROV Hybrid Three Thruster ROV as I completed my Tether Reel this week and will be checking out the ROV in my Association's swimming pool. Unfortunately the pool is only five feet deep, but that will allow me to see how well ballasted the ROV is in open water rather than my 38 gal test tank.
A picture of the Tether Reel is below:
Image

More to come.

Regards,
TCIII AVD
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,

I just finished with my Hybrid ROV pool trials and everything went very well. I had to adjust the roll ballast slightly from when it was in the test tank, but that was all I needed to do as far as ballasting went. The OROV Depth Hold function worked well, though I did not try and use the Heading Hold yet.

The BR Thrusters worked well as was to be expected. Though the horizontal thrusters can overwhelm the vertical thruster when in Depth Hold, but the Depth Hold recovers quickly. I really need to hook up the joystick next time so I can have proportional control with the horizontal thrusters and move the Thrust parameter from 2 to 3. I suspect that the new OROV 2.9 Controller Board might be able to handle nearly double the thruster current allowing full thrust from the T100s? :slight_smile:

I think that OROV would be smart to allow different thrust ranges for the horizontal and vertical thrusters. Ie: vertical thrust at 3 while the horizontal thrusters are at 2. With a setting of 2 the ROV moves along quite well in MHO. :slight_smile: However a setting of 2 does not give enough thrust to the vertical thruster when moving forward.

The OROV neutrally buoyant tether worked great in the pool and easily followed the ROV around without sinking to the bottom as the original twisted pair can do.

Regards,
SSN626B/TCIII
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,

My Hybrid ROV just completed another dive in my Associations's swimming pool. The object of this dive was to determine battery usage over a period of close to an hour.

I ran the ROV for almost an hour using Depth Hold, which caused the vertical thruster to run continuously, and applied moderate drive to the two horizontal thrusters as I circled the pool. I also tested the outboard lights as well as the inboard WTC Controller mounted lights. Both performed as expected.

After about an hour of moderate run time I found that it took around 1300 ma to recharge each of the two NiMH 9.6 vdc 4500 mah batteries. So I would say that I could safely perform a dive that could last around two hours and still have some battery margin left.

Regards,

TCIII AVD
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,
This last week I finally finished mounting my Topside WiFi components in a water resistant case. My WiFi access point consists of a TP-LINK TL-WR802N wireless N300 Travel Router, an OROV Topside Tether Interface, and an EasyAcc 10000mAhr Power Bank all mounted in a small MTM Survivor Dry Box.

I had previously programmed and verified the combination Topside Tether Interface/Wireless Access Point functionality so I was not expecting any issues with the WiFi Access Point and there were none. However, I found that I got the best WiFi connection by keeping my laptop at least a foot away from the wireless router. The WiFi range appeared to be very good at 10 feet and beyond which is good enough for me.

The pictures below show the Access Point Dry Box with the Tether Reel and open by itself:
Image
Tether Reel & WiFi Access Point Dry Box
Image
WiFi Access Point Dry Box open
Now to do more swimming pool testing and prepare for a Intercostal dive.

Regards,
SSN626B/TCIII
SSN626B
Posts: 194
Joined: Nov 16th, 2013, 2:11 pm
Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Re: Blue Robotics/OpenROV 2.8 Hybrid ROV

Post by SSN626B »

Hi All,
Here are some pictures of my completed Hybrid BR/OROV ROV:
Image
Front View
Image
Rear View
Image
Side View

I am presently waiting on the delivery of a HeadPlay HD FPV Headset before I go back to the swimming pool for some video recording.

Regards,
SSN626B/TCIII
Post Reply