Anybody built an ROV ?

[Saturna]

I got on to some homemade ROV sites, like this one... http://www.homebuiltrovs.com/ ,and got to thinking that would be a good way to explore the bottom of some local historic lakes for artifacts.

I have found enough old bottles, etc. snorkelling, but this would get to greater depths. I'm not a scuba diver.(I could never get the equalization thing working with my marginal sinuses.)

Of course, I don't need anymore projects, but this does look like fun.



Jay

 

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[rgecy]

Jay,

Here is a link to one my son and I built a few years ago for a science project. I later upgraded the controls and used it a few times looking for wrecks. I am in an area with very poor vis and lots of current which made it difficult to see and control! So, it now sits on a shelf.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,6544.0.html

There are quite a few others on here who have built bigger and better ROV's tha will go to greater depths and have more sophisticated controls.

Good Luck,

Robert

 

[pcolaboy]

I've been working on mine off and on for about a year now. I've been spending most of my time working on a housing for an HD camcorder to use onboard instead of the tiny ccd camera that alot of others are using.

I'll be posting my progress when I finally have something tangible to present .

Pcola

 

[Voldbjerg]

Hi Pcola

... I've been spending most of my time working on a housing for an HD camcorder to use onboard ....

What HD camcorder do you intent to use? I have heard of a lot of people having problems with HD underwater because of the low light. Have you found a camcorder with a large sensor and relative low price?

/V

 

[Saturna]

Here is a link to one my son and I built a few years ago for a science project. I later upgraded the controls and used it a few times looking for wrecks. I am in an area with very poor vis and lots of current which made it difficult to see and control! So, it now sits on a shelf.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,6544.0.html

Thanks for that link. I searched ROV, but it mainly kept picking up the words "tROVe" and "pROVe". I didn't go back far enough.

Jay

 

[rgecy]

There are several good links to ROV sites in that post. The yahoo robotrov forum has the most activity. There are several new ones I came across as well, but robotrov seems to have the most post.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/robotrov/

If you are looking for a god winter project, it is pretty cool. It really can go from a beginner level to expert in the same project. You can start simple and add or revise components down.

Everytime someone brings up this subject I want to rush out to the garage and pull the ROV down and work on it. If I had it to do over, I would probably do a few things different. Make the frame a little more streamline and look something like the Video Ray.

Good Luck!

Robert

 

[FISHEYE]

Ive been working on building a ROV for about the past 2 years in between my many other projects.I welded together a 1 inch tube steel frame,but now that i have a TIG i think i will remake it with stainless steel.Ive been collecting 15 to 90 pound thrust trolling motors.Got quite a few matching pairs.Im going to design the ROV to move up down and sideways with pitch and roll,pretty much like flying a airplane underwater since i have a complete F-16 joystick and throttle assembly.I have plenty of cameras and aluminum tubes that i can make into housings also for lights as well.I have fiber optic transmitters and receivers for the video.No loss on video signal with the fiber optic.Just need to build the electronics to control everything then when i get some time,put it all together.The 90 lb thrust motors i have i was thinking about building a divers sled with those.Eay enough to do since i used to build DPV's.

 

[pcolaboy]

Hi Pcola

... I've been spending most of my time working on a housing for an HD camcorder to use onboard ....

What HD camcorder do you intent to use? I have heard of a lot of people having problems with HD underwater because of the low light. Have you found a camcorder with a large sensor and relative low price?

/V

Voldbjerg,

I should have been clearer in my post. I should have said HDD camcorder instead of HD. I have a hard drive camcorder...not an high definition camcorder. Sorry. But anyway the one I have is a fairly good Sony and fits nicely in a 4" PVC tube. Here's the basic housing design I'm using with some alterations: http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Housing-for-miniDV/

Pcola

 

[SFLOcenEng]

I'm an Ocean Engineer from and living in South Florida, I design/build ROVs for a living in Jupiter Florida. I have also been involved in numerous research projects designing and building mechanical tools to be used in the ocean environment. I would be very interested in getting involved in a new project or joining something that has already been started. I have a bachelors & masters degree in Ocean Engineering and a fairly large resource base.

The ROVs that we make here in Jupiter are much to large / expensive for treasure hunting but I think that a group of determined treasure hunters can come up with a novel idea and see it to fruition.

Feel free to contact me. Lets get something going.

 

[pcolaboy]

SFLOceanEng....

As RGECY mentioned, there is a huge group of ROV enthusiasts in the Yahoo ROV Group. It's pretty impressive to see the designs coming from people coming from all walks of life.

Pcola