Homebuilt ROVs Forum

hello, i have just joined here to see if anyone can point me in the right direction.

i have zero experience with rov's

i need to buy/build something that can go to about 100FT, be able to withstand a slight tide/current and have a good camera and lighting to see through murky water.

i know nothing about rov's, i cannot afford a commercial one, even a small commercial one i have seen is 25k+

my budget is about $1 or 2k only, is it possible to build something decent for that? is there anyone selling any kits, plans?

thanks
rec

Welcome, you've found the right place to find everything you need to build a ROV. I'm currently in the planning/gathering parts stage. My goals are similar to yours, want to get to 100 feet. If your water is murky, I doubt that any camera will be very effective seeing thru it.

Welcome.

The most common building material used is PVC pipe. It is available at your home improvement store and is easy to cut and glue together.

There is a ton of information on this site that will help you as you begin to design and build your ROV.

To begin you will need to identify:

Number of thrusters (left, right and vertical thrusters)
Control method (as simple as a relay, to micro processor boards)
Camera (like the smaller board type security cameras)
Camera lighting (LEDs are a great choice, as they have a lower current draw)
Tether design (houses the control, power and video wires)
Topside control (as simple as a 4 or 8 position joy stick to computer controlled software)
Hull design (the more stuff you have the bigger the hull)

Good luck, and keep us posted on how your build is going.

-Jim