Homebuilt ROVs Forum

I've spent the last week reading various sources to prepare me for my first dive into home ROV building. I'm pretty certain i know what angle I'm going to approach it from, but I'm still struggling to grasp some of the controlling issues, specifically the hardware requirements.

The task is to control 5 x 12V motors independently (both forward and reverse), from the keyboard on my laptop. Whilst receiving video playback, preferably also on my laptop (although that is not essential).

In order to control the motors, i plan to use an Arduino uno with ethernet shield, connected to my laptop via CAT5 cable. The Arduino would then be connected to 5 H-Bridges (is that possible?) driving the motors. I'm not entirely certain which spec of H-Bridge would be best suited to my needs... any help here would be appreciated.
As a power source i would use a 12v on-board batteries.

For the video playback, I'm guessing I would have to use either an alternative CAT5 cable or some other means of relaying video signals. I was thinking a second CAT5 might be best, as this would give me the option of using the erroneous wires in the CAT5 could be re-purposed to power the ROV from an external power source.


Are there any noticeable flaws in my plan?
Are there any simpler means of going about what I'm planning to do?
Any suggestions or hints would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I don't know if you would need both the H-bridges and the Arduino. My controls are a simple joystick connected to an ethernet cord, and the H-bridges between the Ethernet cord and the motors. I think the Arduino does away with the need for the H-bridges, but you'll have to program the Arduino for the controls.

For video, I use a small camera designed for FPV useage. It has a BNC video connector on it. I use a 100 ft BNC video cable that I got from ebay for less than $10. I bought a video adapter that has various video inputs on it that plugs into your computer remotely via USB. It was very simple, and I have about $50-60 in the whole thing. Nothing more than a camera, cord, and USB adapter.

With a Cat5 cable, you would need an adapter to convert whatever video output is on your camera to transmit over Cat5, and then an additional adapter to convert the Cat5 back to USB. Cat5 cable IS a lot lighter than BNC video cable, but the price difference is only a couple of dollars.