ROV submersible (PVC)

Welcome to my latest project. The ROV submarine.
Ever since fishing up in the North of Norway in my grandfathers new boat I have been wanting to make an ROV(Remotely Operated Vehicle) submarine to observe the seabed from the surface.
So,I researched for parts and prices, and using the info I found I sketched out my first design!

***NOW UPDATED***
Check step 12+ to see how you can build a waterproof ROV lamp.

***parts list***
-PVC pipes and links
-Xm broadband internet cable(depends on how far and deep you want the sub to go.Note;the longer and thinner the cable, the more power is lost along it, also you should think about pressure resistance when choosing the lenght of the cable)
-Epoxy glue and epoxy putty
-motors x3(waterproof) I used water pumps
-plexiglass (20x20cm)
-12v battery or power supply(i used conventional AA batteries(10 of them) i know, its stupid but untill i can figure out another way of powering the sub it's going to have to do
-sillicone
-Camera housing parts (see pics)
-spray paint
-lots of zipties
-Webcam
-bolts for camera case (see pics)
-propellers (diam. about 2.5-3cm)
-small screws
-thin plastic tube for motor shaft extension
-and anything else that i havent mentioned but is in the pictures

**Tools needed**

-Metal saw
-Scissors
-wire cutters
-pliers
-small hacksaw
-and a few other easily obtainable tools

*some basic soldering, wiring and creative skills is required to make this:P

Step 1 Motor test

Step 1:
(testing the motors and motor midifications)

---The main parts of the ROV are the motors, which enable it to move through the water in all directions.
In the picture you see me testing one of the water pumps which i bought to use as a motor.

---later I will be showing you how to make propeller shafts and attatching the proppellers.

Comments

[ivorandjuan]

 hi if you have an old security system that is no longer in use you can use that as this type and size of battery is the standard security system backup battery if you don't have the security system the voltage required is 13.6v dc at 1 amp but you will have to set a timer for the same amount of hours as the amphr as the battery ie: 7ah =7 hrs 6.5ah =6.5 hrs etc etc  

[ivorandjuan]

 be careful not to overheat the battery as that will dry out the gel cells inside and the battery dies then it still has one use left (holding the door open on hot days)

[daniel2008]

thanks for the tip

[Sharlston Cat]

What Depth Can It Go???

[daniel2008]

tested it to 10m

[guitar-is-awesome]

Why do you have mesh on the top? To protect propellers? It seems like a waste of materials and lots of drag when moving vertically...?

[daniel2008]

very true. I removed it later, put mesh over just the propeller instead

[hchahrour]

Hi, you have a great instructable!!
You have another instructable that has a word document with the materials.
Will those materials work on this instructable.
Thanks in advance!

[edrichhans]

What motor did you use?? How did you make it waterproof? thanks.. :))

[luke96]

Where did you get the motor's? Are they just like fish tank pumps?

[daniel2008]

at a hardware store, they go as bilge pumps, or pantry pumps :)

[RGalliath]

Is there any way for water to get into the PVC frame or is it airtight.
Also did you use any weights to counter the air in the camera case.

[PyroBuilder15]

On the fist page of the build were all the pictures are, the ones that have the glowing ROV letters in it, from the non enlarged photo perspective looks like its says TRON. End of line for me...

[Dannne11]

buy some speed controllers, a wireless camera and a RECEIVER+Transmitter and make it RC-driven. would be fun :)

[daniel2008]

radio waves don't transmit under water :P

[drawe21]

Why not control it using sound. Maybe even a code of dots and dash's to program it. i.e. drop 5 feet, forward 20 feet... (its all fun right)

[Alchemyguy]

That's not strictly true; the VLF range is used by navies to communicate with submarines running underwater, but is limited by the fact you need a big antenna and/or High Power and is not open to amateur operators. :)

[Dannne11]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-ROV/step9/Control-Surface/

[daniel2008]

well it still has a tether, all he is doing is running an extended antenna through the tether so as to minimize the number of cables that go through the tether. technically it is just as Remotely controlled as mine as it still uses a tether.

[Redneck2]

Yea I am only 13 and I am hoping to finish mine sometime this week if i finish it i will post a video.

[daniel2008]

 how did it turn out?

[Redneck2]

Hey sorry haven't been on this site in about a year. ill get the pics by tomorrow i just got sidetracked and still need to paint it and fix some buoyancy problems.

[Redneck2]

Here are some pics the camera housing isnt on it right now but the frame and motors are all wired up and ready. I also have the controller ready it just needs a battery hope you like it ill get the camera housing done soon.

[glane91264]

thanks for adding a pic of your control box, i have been thinking how i wanted to do this but not quite sure, and a picture helps me get ideas

[daniel2008]

i just realized i have totally forgotten to include pictures of my control box! will put some up soon

[glane91264]

Although i am almost done, it needs a few touchups, but this is pretty much it except i don't have the camera mounted just yet because i don't know the power requirements and I'm running from a 12v car battery and the camera is supposed to be pugged in AC.

[daniel2008]

i really liked your design! Looks like the vertical thruster gets less obstruction from the frame than on mine and, it´s centered!
Well done!
Have you tested it?

[glane91264]

Thank you! And i did test it but while building it i was short on money so i tried to use 500pgh Bilge pumps (instead of the 1000Gph) but they don't move it as well as id like given the size and weight. then i added another vertical motor but didn't change my dial (to adjust for the additional amps) to control the amount of thrust and it burt up. =/ but im going to take it apart and build a much smaller ROV... at some point hopefully, but i also used a home security camera with IR lights instead of a Web cam.

[daniel2008]

hey! just checking back to ask how youre doing on your project? it's a pretty awesome rov and i'd be thrilled to know how it turned out!

[glane91264]

Hey, well it went ok, I had used smaller bildge pumps which didn't push the bigger frame as well as I had hoped. I added 2 more bilge pumps to increase thruster radius and power overall but it still moved to slow and I forgot to change my controller knob when I added the extra amps throughout the pumps and almost caught my controller on fire haha, and I had the camera set to far from the plexiglass and the IR lights for the nightvision reflected back in the lens but I tore it apart because I didn't have the space for it at the time being but I plan on building a smaller version sometime soon, how is yours doing though?

[twitchfidelis]

Do you have the controller box pictures yet. I would love to see how you set that up.

[daniel2008]

dude! this is really good stuff! i'm so glad you were inspired by my design, i like that you spaced the motors a bit away from the frame, will help in getting a little more thrust out of them. Do you have a camera on it yet? couldn't see it. You might need to buy some other props though for those bilge pumps, with slightly smaller angles of elevation. But i have to say. Well Done! oh, and make sure you paint it :) looks a lot better after a few coats of paint. Post some pictures when it's done! i'll be looking forward to seeing the end result!
_cheers

[Redneck2]

Well heres the finished product sorry the pics arnt that good i used my cell phone.

[daniel2008]

Would be great if you could let me know how your tests went :)

[daniel2008]

nice man!! now all that remains is testing it! let me know how it works out :)

[Redneck2]

Hey here's a pic of the propeller my dad made it its bigger then the old one and should give me the thrust i need. I also plan to paint it tomorrow i'll put it together and post some pics of the finished product tomorrow.

[daniel2008]

ok, yes they look like they should do quite well!

[Redneck2]

Ya i finished up the camera housing today but the silicone is drying, i'll put some bigger props on it and hopefully have it painted and put together by this weekend i'll post some pics when it's all done.

[daniel2008]

had a chance to test it out yet? would be cool with a video :) i'm about to test mine in a very nice lake in norway, i hope to put up some new video

[nikv95]

what kind of wire do you use to connect the camera to the laptop and where do you get it