hobby ROV from Belgium

[TomRov]

Hi everyone, we are 2 guys living in Belgium and we build an ROV. Only thing still missing is a descent motor control (now we only have on/off functionality) but it is waterproof (30m) and controllable by Wii controller, laptop and manual overrides. It has an alumunium exterior and contains a robotic arm and 2 camera's (one of which is High Def). It contains a metal detector, temperature check, air pump, tools (mechanic drill and cutting device). If someone can help us choosing a motor control system we would appreciate all tips.

[thegadgetguy]

Wow, very impressive. May I ask what type of data connection you are using between the ROV and topside? Is everything controled by one set of wires or do you have different wires for cameras and control?

Again, very cool.

[sthone]

Yeah WOW that's a nice looking piece of equipment right there...

What kind of control boards are you using on the Rov?

-Steve

[TomRov]

Hello,
The connection to the ROV consists of 2 cables, 1 utp cat 5 cable for the robot arm and the 2 camera's, 1 cable for current and control of the motors, instruments. The camera's and robotic arm are usb devices and come together in a gigabit usb to utp converter (which is basically a webserver sending all the data to the laptop) inside the ROV. When sending the control to the motors we use 3 velleman kits k8023 you will know them because you use it also I think. Two kits are for receiving data to the rov 1 kit for sending to the laptop.(like temp, watersensor , metaldetection and navigation). We also have a steppe motor card for 2 motors which turn the camera. For boyence we use a one liter tank that we pump full off water. When it is filled the rov is O in water. Also we have a drive system on wheels or tracks that can be put on the rov when necessary. The grabber of the robotic arm is not finished yet but will be in two months, de rest of the arm is full aluminum. We're going to make some movies by the end of the month when it will be back in the water again testing.
At the moment we are still looking for a way to control are motors, thinking about using arduino or a specialized IC, any help there is very much appreciated.

With friendly regards Tom P and Tom V

[SoakedinVancouver]

I'd say "wow!" but my jaw slackened so much, it's on the floor. You guys did not grow on "Boule et Bill", eh? Gorgeous piece of equipment.

But a drill? What for?

I used a combination of Arduino and dual H bridge modules for a land robot, it appeared to be very reliable. Mind you, the motors had the appropriate decoupling, caps to motor metal casing, twisted cabling to the motors, and two different power supplies (with common returns). The H bridges were rated up to only 2 amps and I was using maybe 500mA...

[bigbadbob]

WOW!!!! very impressive! great quality workmanship there Tomrov.
I hope i don't meet you underwater, you'd flood me with that drill. ha ha hee hee.
That's an idea... anyone tried underwater robot wars?

[cjstepney]

WOW! Amazing work. I suggest getting a better robotic arm for the machine. My friend has the same one and the gears fail quite quickly, I suggest building your own from scratch, as I will do when I have more time and money.

[Kjetil]

What type of pump are you using for the ballast tank? Are you just reversing the pump or using solenoids for getting the water out of the tank again?

[Seawolf]

For motor controllers I've been using some of these http://www.robotshop.com/cytron-single- ... ler-5.html controlled by an arduino. So far they've worked pretty well, and they're not terribly expensive.

Cheers,
-Seawolf

[derelicte]

that is a great find! I've been looking for a cheap, >5A motor controller for a while.

thank you!