Working ROV #2

[timothyalderson]

Alright, I finally found a cheap thruster that has enough butt to build my bigger skid out of aluminum. I will be adding a panning Camera, Manipulator arm, GPS or Compass, Depth, and maybe 360' Sonar and Variable Buoyancy. I found a cheap Hummingbird unit for cheap. To be continued...

[scubersteve]

Looks like you have a real solid start there.
What sort of control and power are you planning on?
What are the dimensions of your rov?

[timothyalderson]

Is 22"L X 16"W X14" D. I was thinking about ordering an Open ROV kit and using the controls etc. Right now it has Analog controls. That's the way the first ROV I built ran. Think one has all the controls etc. from the previous one. It has 12 Volts down the tether now.

[timothyalderson]

Well I made progress. I got all the bugs worked out and I think I've got the trim set close. First test dive on Wednesday. 50ft well see how it does

[KR2_Diving]

Looking forward to seeing your results! Keep us posted!

[simpleben77]

really keen to see how deep those thrusters will go!

[timothyalderson]

Ok everyone. The ROV test was good to 50. The buoyancy was a bit touchy. I also used it for a real job. Ill upload the video when I can.

[timothyalderson]

Ok another update. I tore down the thrusters etc to check them an found one flooded. I think it was a fluke but I'm going to try and figure out a way to seal them a little better and see how it goes. I maxed the ROV out this morning so 125' is the stock limit without modding them.

[timothyalderson]

Ok. After some tweaking I figured out why the motor leaked. The gearbox to motor seal is round and wasnt placed in the housing right which left it offset and made a leak. I went back thru all the motors with Liquid Electrical tape and sealed everything. These motors also come with a great shaft seal set up which is adjustable with two screws and has orings in it. I think this fixed the limit for these motors and as soon as I can confirm I think it will go at least 200. More too follow.

[timothyalderson]

Ok Guys got a few updates. I discovered that the weal link in the motors is the gear box seals. They can take about 15PSI before they leak. Because of the design a new seal cant be installed. With that said the company that designed the motors was kind enough to provide a small port which is perfect for an OIL port. So I filled the motors and wala no more water in motor issue. I couldnt even tell I filled them. The amp draw only increased by .2 accross the board. So I decided to start building the new housing. I picked up 3 ft of 4.75" clear Lexan tubing today with 2 X 5" Delrin pucks that im going to machine and put o-rings in for end caps. I also am looking at running a different system for control. I have no experiance with the Arduano kits but am considering one. Can someone go over what I would need to get it started? Im looking at running an UNO with two Motor Shields but Im not sure which shields etc to get. and what else I would need. I'd like to run 120AC down to the ROV and have a 120AC to 12DC Converter inside the housing. I have 300' of real ROV tether in a box that has the video w/Shield, Power, Ground, and a 4 wire set. This tether is neutral in the water and has a braided wire in it for strength. Im going to be using that.