current ROV project of Mine in vermont

[thamlin]

So anyways I'm in charge of maintenace and exhibits at our local aquarium, the pictures attached are of a 15 year old ROV that was used to find the General Butler off of the burlington waterfront on lake champlain. Now for the last 10 years it has hung from a ceiling over a full scale replica of what was left of the gen. butler cargo ship. It is attached to a monitor on the third floor with a joystick control to work the camera and lights on the very front of the rov to give people a look to see what it would be like to actually run a rov over a sunken ship. Unfortunately it is old and is very problematic. The small greyish box hanging from the very front is the two lights and camera, it no longer works. I will be tearing it off to work on it later this week.

My plans are to duplicate the original design, with newer modifications. Echo II, will be the name of the unit, and it will be used to explore other wrecks on lake champlain for teaching purposes and probably a little show and tell at festivals that we have. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

I will be starting to duplicate the basic frame this weekend.

Tim

[NCUWI]

Something is seriously wrong with that port side vertical thruster, the kort nozzle is way out of kilter and the thruster's position is out of whack also. I'm guessing those aren't the original thrusters and are just mock-ups, right?

What's its size/scale, hard to tell from the photograph. What are your plans for thrusters? That always seems to be the most challenging / most expensive part of the project.

[thamlin]

Yeah its been striped of a lot of gear, what you cant see in the pictures, there is a lot of cut wiring, motors missing. Its roughly 30 inches long by out about 18 inchs high. I will be getting all my measurements this wensday when i take it down to work on the camera and lights. It will be interesting to get the top yellow cap off to see what else is inside it. thrusters Im planning on 1100 gph inserts for vertical descent and probably two 800s for forward and reverse, micro camera with tilt on a rotatable axis with servo. Would like a temp sensor with depth sensor also, connected with 100 feet of teather. Plently of wrecks in lake champlain that are not to deep. I will enclose the motors to keep debri out, weeds and such and for more concise propulsion. Trying to find a descent engineering cad program to draw up the plans in 3d once i get the measurements.

tim

Something is seriously wrong with that port side vertical thruster, the kort nozzle is way out of kilter and the thruster's position is out of whack also. I'm guessing those aren't the original thrusters and are just mock-ups, right?

What's its size/scale, hard to tell from the photograph. What are your plans for thrusters? That always seems to be the most challenging / most expensive part of the project.

[NCUWI]

I think you're going to have a problem thrusting a vehicle that size with bilge pump motors. The cheapest "store bought" thrusters I know of all sell for around $600 to $1000 each. These might work: http://www.crustcrawler.com/products/urov2/index.php

The other option might be to build a scale model (maybe half scale?) and use your bilge pump motors or outrunner BL motors. Since you'll be operating in fresh water you have a bit more flexibility (not as corrosive as SW).

[thamlin]

Thanks NCUWI, I do believe your correct, the size of this unit in the pictures is huge for a ROV, and from the pictures that i have at work, i now dont believe this is the original unit that found the ship, but a MOCK up of the original used for the aquarium only. I now dont believe this one in the pictures i supplied here was ever in water. The pictures show a very similar style and yellow cover on top, but with close observation, you can see the details and differences. I have decided to stick with the design but much smaller, like you suggest someweres in a 1/2 half scale. Ive got all my measurements now and will be picking up my pvc and lexan tomorrow. Im not using the schedule 40 white pvc, depending on the cost, i think i will be using schedule 80 pvc, which i believe will take banging around wrecks and logs, rocks a lot better than the softer schedule 40 pvc. The lexan I will be using for the "cowl". With a descent heat gun that i use at work we form stuff all the time for exhibits in the aquarium so soft light touches and a heat gun i believe i will be able to form my cowl as a one piece unit to cover the ROV. I have monday thru wensday off, i believe i will work on it then, since the weather has been terrible it will be a nice project for my days off. :!:

I think you're going to have a problem thrusting a vehicle that size with bilge pump motors. The cheapest "store bought" thrusters I know of all sell for around $600 to $1000 each. These might work: http://www.crustcrawler.com/products/urov2/index.php

The other option might be to build a scale model (maybe half scale?) and use your bilge pump motors or outrunner BL motors. Since you'll be operating in fresh water you have a bit more flexibility (not as corrosive as SW).

[thamlin]

so basic frame is coming along well. will start the second part of the frame tomorrow.

[shaneb24]

Lets see some pics!

[thamlin]

no problem on the pic/s gonna need some feedback. I will post them tomorrow.

[robli67]

Tim,
Interesting project you have started. I live in Burlington and have been interested in ROVs but never started one. If you need an extra set of hands I would love to help. It would be a learn process for me but I am willing. I do have 3 kids so my time is limited but I thought I would put the offer out there.

Cheers,

Rob Libby

[thamlin]

Hey Rob, nice to see someone else from vermont. Still pretty much a learning process for me also, been doing a lot of reading up on everything in my spare time, which these days isnt much. Lots going on at the echo these days. Here are some pictures to check out my progress.