building/buying an rov

[rec]

hello, i have just joined here to see if anyone can point me in the right direction.

i have zero experience with rov's

i need to buy/build something that can go to about 100FT, be able to withstand a slight tide/current and have a good camera and lighting to see through murky water.

i know nothing about rov's, i cannot afford a commercial one, even a small commercial one i have seen is 25k+

my budget is about $1 or 2k only, is it possible to build something decent for that? is there anyone selling any kits, plans?

thanks
rec

[bossfrog]

Welcome, you've found the right place to find everything you need to build a ROV. I'm currently in the planning/gathering parts stage. My goals are similar to yours, want to get to 100 feet. If your water is murky, I doubt that any camera will be very effective seeing thru it.

[Rover]

Welcome.

The most common building material used is PVC pipe. It is available at your home improvement store and is easy to cut and glue together.

There is a ton of information on this site that will help you as you begin to design and build your ROV.

To begin you will need to identify:

Number of thrusters (left, right and vertical thrusters)
Control method (as simple as a relay, to micro processor boards)
Camera (like the smaller board type security cameras)
Camera lighting (LEDs are a great choice, as they have a lower current draw)
Tether design (houses the control, power and video wires)
Topside control (as simple as a 4 or 8 position joy stick to computer controlled software)
Hull design (the more stuff you have the bigger the hull)

Good luck, and keep us posted on how your build is going.

-Jim