I am designing my first ROV and currently in the phase of planning. Could someone please help me with whether should I have my control circuit on board or off board (i.e. on the ROV or off it) since the controller would need to be reprogrammed constantly.
Also should i have power on board or off board?
Control Circuit on board?
Re: Control Circuit on board?
Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of information and ideas as you progress with your build.
There are a lot of variables as far as the answer to your control board location question.
When building an ROV, the tether is an important part of the design. by using either a relay board or a control board down at the ROV you only need to have a single set of power wires.
If you use a control board, you can control the various functions of the ROV with a single set or two of small gauge control wires (such as the Velleman K8023 10 relay control board or a Ardinuo)
If you are building a small ROV with a short tether, that does not use more then a couple of amps you can run power down to each motor (using CAT 5 or phone wire). and do all of the control at the surface.
The ROV located control board allows you to keep your tether smaller.
As far as batter location, again search this forum for additional information. Onboard batteries will give you the maximum power available to the motors, but it does come with additional coast of the batteries and chargers, and increased equipment to house on the ROV.
Running power down to the ROV is a very common way to power the ROV, but the main power wire size needs to be a balance between large enough to power the motors and the added weight of the tether power wire. Google "Power Loss Calculator" to see the amount of power loss you may have running power down to your ROV.
On our current ROV we are running 16 volts down to the ROV, but are now running 24 volts down to it, and controlling the power with a DC to DC converter...... 5 amps down the 24 volts tether will give us 10 amps at 12 volts available to the motors.
Jim
There are a lot of variables as far as the answer to your control board location question.
When building an ROV, the tether is an important part of the design. by using either a relay board or a control board down at the ROV you only need to have a single set of power wires.
If you use a control board, you can control the various functions of the ROV with a single set or two of small gauge control wires (such as the Velleman K8023 10 relay control board or a Ardinuo)
If you are building a small ROV with a short tether, that does not use more then a couple of amps you can run power down to each motor (using CAT 5 or phone wire). and do all of the control at the surface.
The ROV located control board allows you to keep your tether smaller.
As far as batter location, again search this forum for additional information. Onboard batteries will give you the maximum power available to the motors, but it does come with additional coast of the batteries and chargers, and increased equipment to house on the ROV.
Running power down to the ROV is a very common way to power the ROV, but the main power wire size needs to be a balance between large enough to power the motors and the added weight of the tether power wire. Google "Power Loss Calculator" to see the amount of power loss you may have running power down to your ROV.
On our current ROV we are running 16 volts down to the ROV, but are now running 24 volts down to it, and controlling the power with a DC to DC converter...... 5 amps down the 24 volts tether will give us 10 amps at 12 volts available to the motors.
Jim
Re: Control Circuit on board?
I want to put the batteries inside the ROV along with all the circuitry that controls the thrusters and other things. The problem that I have is that I would need to recharge the batteries and change the program in my micro-controller on a constant basis. How would I be able to do that? Would i need to remove the waterproofing each time and waterproof it again after i am done with the recharging and changing the programs etc. or is there any method that i can use for waterproofing in which i just have to open and close the container?
Re: Control Circuit on board?
Their are several ways to seal your ROV, so that you can gain access to the electronics.
One is to use a removable rear or forward pressure bulkhead, attaching with a series of machine screws or cam latches and either a rubber gasket or an o-ring.
You can also used a threaded PVC pipe cap..... They work but you need to use teflon tape and thread the cap on tight.
You can also use a waterproof box held closed with cam latches, like an otter box.
Check out this post for more info...... viewtopic.php?f=13&t=703
Jim
One is to use a removable rear or forward pressure bulkhead, attaching with a series of machine screws or cam latches and either a rubber gasket or an o-ring.
You can also used a threaded PVC pipe cap..... They work but you need to use teflon tape and thread the cap on tight.
You can also use a waterproof box held closed with cam latches, like an otter box.
Check out this post for more info...... viewtopic.php?f=13&t=703
Jim
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bikerbones1968
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Re: Control Circuit on board?
Hi onibnasir, I am using onboard batteries and pretty much everything short of the video monitor and controller are onboard. This is my approach for easy access to my internals. The hull has been tested to 200 feet without any leaks and it only takes a few seconds to open the aft end and slide everything out mounted on a Lexan board.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=732
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=732