Ragdoll in the Surfzone

[huntsman53]

If it were not for the rock and reef shelfs, coral heads, shipwreck (new and old) and hurricane debris, this workhorse would be ideal for finding and exposing a lot of shipwreck items. Some of you who watch Bering Sea Gold, will likely remember Vernon and his' crew using it and then losing it. Although they did not show it, I am sure that it was recovered.

Sea Technology Magazine, "Remote-Operated Submersible Gold Dredge" - EDDY Pump


Frank

 

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[ropesfish]

You really don't have many options for remote control of an underwater vessel, which is why there is such a push for autonomy in UUVs. Essentially you are talking about a crawler ROV. In order to operate it remotely you will have to have either an antenna or a tether. As the energy expenditure for this sort of vehicle will be high you will probably need a pretty good sized tether anyway. I would suggest 'Googling" Crawler ROV, surf zone ROV, etc. Here are a few YouTube videos that you may find of some help.








Then watch this playlist:

 

[Urban Legend]

I think I've found an alternative to a wireless tethered antenna..
If I use the Manta's tail as an antenna ...something like a retractable car antenna.. I could position it upright and above the water level when in use..
It'd have to be pretty stout..but if the surfzone were less than 10 ft deep....it might work..?

 

[ropesfish]

I think I've found an alternative to a wireless tethered antenna..
If I use the Manta's tail as an antenna ...something like a retractable car antenna.. I could position it upright and above the water level when in use..
It'd have to be pretty stout..but if the surfzone were less than 10 ft deep....it might work..?

It would be interesting to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations as to the forces acting on an object of a certain size in the 'surf zone' so as to be able to figure out what such a vehicle would have to mass in order to stay in position.

If it is more than 10 feet deep, you can work it with a dig boat on calm days.

The hardest part of this project, like any underwater project (particularly in good ol' highly salt-mineralized and therefore highly corrosive & highly conductive sea water) is sealing the mechanisms from water intrusion. This is by far the most expensive aspect of any development project for shallow water (less than 300 meters). After 300 m or so, pressure begins to become an expensive problem as well.

 

[Urban Legend]

This is about the size and shape I'm looking at..
Thick enough in the middle to house all the electronics ..
Large and smooth enough to stick to the seafloor.. especially when its vac motor is running...
I'm thinking if I divert some of the vacuum to the outer edges of the ray it might further stabilize it ?
Finally ..give it a thick rubbery leather like outer shell to keep all the electronics dry. ..and to make it tough enough to take a tumble or 2...

Now that I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to wirelessly control the drone..with an antenna at or above the waterline..I can get on with figuring all the components and software its gonna take to get this idea off paper and into the water.

 

[Urban Legend]

I'm looking for a suitable underwater metal detector to disassemble and incorporate into the framework of the Ray ..
The minelab CTX 3030 has many of the desired capabilities... GPS..graphing..good discrimination....it looks good on paper..but I've never used one...
This is going to be the brain of my drone and I'd like something proven and durable....
Any suggestions...

 

[Urban Legend]

Let me clarify a bit.....
I'm not going to put a minelab or any other detector inside my Manta and turn around and market it as my own invention.
It'd be nice to have universal chassis mounts to accept the most popular high end detectors.. as well as plug and play to go wireless.
I've been using metal detectors for many years but admittedly most has been on dry land..some snorkeling... but we don't have many surfzones on the gulf coast...

 

[Urban Legend]

Do yourself a real favor and buy this book. At $115 it will save you more time and effort than you can imagine.
"Underwater Robotics: Science, Design and Fabrication"


https://www.marinetech.org/underwater-robotics-textbook-2/

https://seamate.org/collections/publications

The Marine Advanced Technology Education(MATE) Center website is also a good resource @ https://www.marinetech.org/home/

Finally got around to purchasing the book...
It should be here in a few days ....
750 pages....at least it has a lot of pictures

 

[Salvor6]

Finally got around to purchasing the book...
It should be here in a few days ....
750 pages....at least it has a lot of pictures

It has 500 pictures. Sounds like a real helpful book. I might buy one too!

 

[huntsman53]

Finally got around to purchasing the book...
It should be here in a few days ....
750 pages....at least it has a lot of pictures

It has 500 pictures. Sounds like a real helpful book. I might buy one too!

Well, you know what they say. A picture is worth a thousand words, so in essence, you have 500,000 words expressed in the pictures. Don't know if that is a good thing or not!


Frank

 

[Urban Legend]

The biggest obstacle that I can see in the surfzone is being stable enough to get some work done.
The objects that are the least affected by the churning waters and rip currents are somewhat flat and have enough weight to shed the shifting waters..
I'd like my Ray to have those qualities and yet be portable..
I believe if I make the outer skin of the Ray like a balloon... something I can pump full of water to gain ballast...and pump empty to remove from the water..it might give it enough mass to exist in the environment ?
Water is roughly 8lbs a gallon...

 

[Urban Legend]

Well...my underwater robotics textbook finally arrived... I think it took the long way to get here..
In any case it looks like my "Ragdoll Manta " is getting closer to climbing off my list of things to do..and into the water....
Thanx Ropesfish for suggesting this textbook... It'll pay for itself many times over...

 

[SADS 669]

Let me clarify a bit.....
I'm not going to put a minelab or any other detector inside my Manta and turn around and market it as my own invention.
It'd be nice to have universal chassis mounts to accept the most popular high end detectors.. as well as plug and play to go wireless.
I've been using metal detectors for many years but admittedly most has been on dry land..some snorkeling... but we don't have many surfzones on the gulf coast...

Get one to me I'll R and D it for you, the next stop East of my beach is Africa..........

 

[Salvor6]

Get one to me I'll R and D it for you, the next stop East of my beach is Africa..........

You don't have to go that far Urban. I have a site right off Anna Maria Island where we can test it out. There's supposed to be gold coins at my site.

If you send it to SADS you might not get it back.

 

[SADS 669]

A) you will definitely not get it back, in one piece anyhow......and B) 43 gold coins have ( not supposed... ha ha) been found on and off the very beach with the highest surf.....

Not by me I am sad to announce......

 

[Urban Legend]

You don't have to go that far Urban. I have a site right off Anna Maria Island where we can test it out. There's supposed to be gold coins at my site.

If you send it to SADS you might not get it back.[/QUOTEQUOTE
]
Haha...I think GPS will work in the Bahamas..
The first trials will definitely be on one of the nearby sandy beaches..
I know that I'm going to have to get scuba certified... In case my Manta forgets to come home..

 

[SADS 669]

Surf and newly certified divers are real fun, all sorts of stuff gets blown off them.

 

[Urban Legend]

The only people that don't make mistakes ...don't do anything...
In the years leading up to my acquiring a Master Mechanics certification I was fortunate to work with 4 different master mechanics ..
The one thing that they all had in common was they hated the word "no" ..and while they weren't very fond of making mistakes...they never made the same mistake twice..
Its much easier to do your homework and learn from other peoples mistakes..
And....a lot less painful too.....
The only stupid questions.... are the ones you don't ask..
Me and my Manta will undoubtedly take a spill or two...but..it should be a fun and rewarding project..

 

[Urban Legend]

If I hang a mag under my Manta...and graph the entire area off Egmont Key...we might finally be able to put this whole mini sub thing to rest..?....maybe even find something worth digging up ?
Its gonna be a neat toy.....

 

[Urban Legend]

Well...I'm about 1/4 of the way thru the book...
I sure thought that I was a lot smarter .... before reading all this stuff..
In any case..the book weighs about 10lbs and its keeping me in shape ..

As soon as it slows down at work I'll start cobbling something up...