Homebuilt ROVs Forum

So for a few years I have wanted to make an ROV to explore the bottom of the lake at my family cabin. And now I have finally gotten off my lazy butt and started to make one!

for the controller I have modified an original Nintendo joystick controller. To make it work properly forward left is both forward, back right is both back, back left is hard left forward right is hard right ect. the best part is that there are 2 trigger buttons, one on top is to surface and the trigger is the dive button.

the thrusters are Johnson 750 bilge pump inserts with 50mm props that don't fit so i have new ones on order

for the tether i have some cat5e cable to run the relays and 16 gauge speaker wire for power. (i also have some 22gauge speaker wire for the camera which is in the mail). the tether is ~45 meters (150 feet).


the actual ROV (ROZ as I call it) is made up of 1/2 inch pvc for the x-frame and 3 inch for the ballast and float tubes. the design is a bit different than what I had originally wanted but when i priced out what it was going to cost me for metal I decided this was easier.

I cant think of what else to add right now so... PICTURES!


the frame



with thruster mounts



with thruster mounts and ballast tubes


for size
http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae25 ... windex.jpg

with thruster mounts ballast tubes floats and camera housing



constructive comments are always welcomed

ROZ your well on your way and your build looks great!!

thanks bikerbones1968.
im actually further along than this. Just waiting for the camera and new propellers. then its time to play!

I am nearly going out of my mind trying to figure out what to do for controls. GGGEEEZZZ I can go the simple route and use DPDT momentary switches and relays etc. Too easy really. I want to use esc's, brushless motors and use a Cytron PS2I/O converter board but no where can I find information as to how far the Cytron board outputs will send a usable signal on cat 5. I emailed the manufacturer to get information and they only replied saying that someone may be better equiped to answer the question!!! I would have thought the people selling the board would have an idea.... LOL. I was sold on the ROV Asia set up but according to the guy who sells/sold them it will not be remanufactured until August.

Im having troubles with the lighting. Originally there was a relay and I was controlling it from the surface, but I was having problems with that not turning off. Now I have it hard wired to the power supply, which works but the lights flicker when I use any of the controls for the thrusters. They only flicker on initial power up tho. I know its not my power source because I am using a power converter that converts 110v to 12v.

anyways.

still waiting on the camera, but its ready for testing! here are some pics of the completed ROZ, and I will try and take some of the testing and maybe even a video.

are all four of those bigger pvc tubes sealed? If so, I think you may have way too much positive bouyancy. also, I'd suggest removing the bottom two tubes all together. you want to put the sealed buyancy tanks on the top and the counter ballast on the bottom so that the rov floats level in the water and will right itself automatically.

the bottom tubes are filled with holes and weight as my ballast, the top tubes are sealed. the reason that i have the bottom tubes as ballast is because i like the ascetics.

but thanks for the input.

looks good so far. Cant wait for some video.

First test run!!! went really well! except i only had 2 of the new propellers and the old one fell off as I figured it would, so I only had 20 min with the dive/surface thruster working.

also learned some things.
- my ballast takes take a long time to fill with water so I will have to drill larger holes for the water to enter.
-I need more floats on my teather, dragging it through the sand/dirt below the ROV sucks up speed.
-I made the controls backwards (left forward made the left thruster go forward, turning it to the right)
-zip ties are not a good way to hold teather wires together as they get caught and cut your fingers.


anyways some pics

and a terrible cell video.