Hi there,
I am Thein Lin Aung from Myanmar.
I am now a final year student at Myanmar Maritime University attending Naval Architecture.
I and my friends made an ROV named BlackBox 7 months ago for the first-time competition in the university.
The project is initiated with the invitation of Dr. Thu Han Tun, one of the professors at Myanmar Maritime University, for the competition. We formed a team of 7 students from two majors. We had about 5 months from the project proposal to competition.
We were the first generation of the competition and it was the first big project that our friends from two majors collaborated. It was an exciting and amazing experience apart from the various problems.
Our design intent is to make our ROV good in maneuverability and user friendly. We iterated the design by brainstorming, discussing and arguing our ideas. More information about design decisions, components, systems and photos are included in the PDF.
Please note that we don't have much resources available in our country. Most of the parts were ordered from online stores. If you live in a more resourceful place, you could do it better. And we are sure that we could do it better next time.
Although I tried to cover much information in the book, it does not contain much details. The book is intended as a reference for future ROV builders. Please enjoy the reading and feel free to contact me and ask any questions. I'd be glad to help you.
Some facts
Dimensions: 1ft × 9in × 7in
Max operation depth: 10 meter
No. of thrusters: 6 (4 Horizontal, 2 Vertical)
Construction materials:
o Acrylics (PMMA = Poly Methyl Methacrylate) (Plexi Glass)
o Stainless steel (Alloy 304)
o Propeller: Nylon
o Propeller Hub: Aluminum
Degree of motion: 5 (Forward/Backward, Left/Right, Up/Down, Pitch, Yaw)
Sensors: Temperature, pressure, tilt (heel, pitch), compass, water leakage
HD Camera with 80 degree panning
Two high power LEDs for low light operation
Operating voltage: 12V DC
Operating current: 10A - 30A
Power consumption: 120W - 360W
Power supply: Mains AC converted to 12V DC via adapter
Controller: Analog Joystick
Interface: Computer installed BlackBox software
Some photos
BlackBox ROV
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- Posts: 289
- Joined: Sep 10th, 2013, 5:26 pm
- Location: New Jersey Shore
Re: BlackBox ROV
Very cool design! Thanks for posting this.
I have a couple of questions (sorry, didn't read the attached pdf).
1. How well did the acrylic seal? Any leaks? Any issues with pressure?
2. What grade did your team get?
I have a couple of questions (sorry, didn't read the attached pdf).
1. How well did the acrylic seal? Any leaks? Any issues with pressure?
2. What grade did your team get?
- theinlinaung
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Jun 22nd, 2014, 7:48 am
Re: BlackBox ROV
Watertight sealsa_shorething wrote:Very cool design! Thanks for posting this.
I have a couple of questions (sorry, didn't read the attached pdf).
1. How well did the acrylic seal? Any leaks? Any issues with pressure?
2. What grade did your team get?
We glued (epoxied) most of the structure for secure sealing. We epoxied stainless steel plates
and acrylic plates, and control box and bottom plate. There is only one place to be sealed which
is between the control box and the top plate. We also epoxied one end of bolts.
A rubber swimming hat was cut and used as a gasket seal between the control box and top plate. We tried silicone paste seal used in mirror work but it was too soft to withstand the compression of the bolts and not
reliable for adequate sealing.
PVC seal tape was used to seal the bolt drill holes and bolt-nut interface. Rubber balloons were used to seal USB and power connectors.
Hot glue and heat shrink tubes were used to seal electrical cable connections.
The ROV is intended to dive only 10 meters, so the structure and seals shoud withstand it. We have only tested in about 9 feet though.
Now that you asked, we got the first prize in the competition. We could not do our best during the competition but we satisfied to some extent and said not bad for the first experience.
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- Posts: 160
- Joined: Jan 3rd, 2014, 10:04 pm
- Location: Vancouver B.C. Canada
Re: BlackBox ROV
Very nice. Congratulations on the win.
Re: BlackBox ROV
simple and nice design. And you can fill it up with oil for going deeper..
Re: BlackBox ROV
Hi.
I realy like the compact design of your ROV.
How is it handling in the water, is it as movable as it looks?
Kindly regards
Jens
I realy like the compact design of your ROV.
How is it handling in the water, is it as movable as it looks?
Kindly regards
Jens
- theinlinaung
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Jun 22nd, 2014, 7:48 am
Re: BlackBox ROV
Hi,jebs wrote:Hi.
I realy like the compact design of your ROV.
How is it handling in the water, is it as movable as it looks?
Kindly regards
Jens
Thank you for your compliment. It can move in water pretty fast as the thrusters generate more than enough thrust. There are a couple of problems in maneuverability: the umbilical cable is a bit large and stiff compared to the ROV and the vertical thrusters spin in one direction (the propellers are both right handed) producing a net momentum which causes the ROV to spin while ascending/descending. Otherwise, it is a good start.
- theinlinaung
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Jun 22nd, 2014, 7:48 am
Re: BlackBox ROV
Thank you.Bubbles wrote:Congratulations!!!!!