Underwater ROV

This instructable will show you the process of building a fully functional ROV capable of 60ft or more. I built this ROV with the help of my dad and several other people who have built ROVs before. This was a long project that took al summer and part of the beginning of the school year.

Step 1: Design

In order to keep the ROV stable in the water, you need a design that is weighted on the bottom and has floats on the top.

The first ROV was built by Steve of Homebuilt ROVs. His website has numerous ROV designs as well as links to other ROV websites. He also incorporates several How To instructions in his site. I found this site to be invaluable in building my ROV, and would recommend it to anyone interested in building their own

The second ROV was built be Jason Rollette at Rollette.com His design is a little different but still very effective.

For my ROV I decided on a large center tube with two smaller tube located on either side, slightly underneath the center tube.

Comments

[mlucas6]

Hi really nice ROV i am looking in to this for surf fishing as in towing out my line bait and all past the 3rd sandbar thats about 200 yards or a bit more would it work with that long of a tether?

[SpaceShipOne]

200 yards is a bit of a stretch for the signal I am using to communicate with the ROV. If you switched to something more robust such as I2C or a serial data connection it would function better . Remember that the tether will become an antenna as it is fed out so using a RC style controller would be impossible due to all the interference you would get. If all you plan on using this for is towing a line then I would recommend a stronger forward/reverse thruster system as you will need to overcome the drag of both the tether and your line, not to mention any kind of current.

Good luck!

[harry88]

You could use an air compressor and an electronic valve to let in water and another to let in Air to a ballast tank but it would add another 30 + dollars in airhose and valves

[monty324]

when i was about 6 i liked to watch the diving programes because i thought rov's where soooo cool

[mwuchevich]

Was wondering if their is any ill effect for use in cold ocean water... I just moved to norway and im currently evaluating what design parameters i will need to help me study the submarine geology in the current area. Any informaiton about cold water performance would be grately helpful. Considering rock retrival video and some type of sonic rebound reflective maping device.. just not finished with research.

[mwuchevich]

also any ideas about cancling neutral boyncy after retreaving objects on a dive? sorry for the sp its late and brain not spiting out words to fingers correctly.

[SpaceShipOne]

Cold water is not much of a problem provided you use seals that are meant for colder temperatures. Most commercial ROVs operate at depths where the water temperature is significantly colder than the surface.

When retrieving items, you will either need powerful enough motors to lift the object or some kind of inflatable lift bag to give you the added buoyancy you need. Alternatively you could use a tether that has a lifting line which you could use to haul your ROV to the surface

[grundisimo]

Try using pumps and ballast tanks to control weight.

[Legoman132]

I am building an ROV myself, and I was wondering ow far your lights penetrated in cloudy water. Also, I flound that the 1250 GPH bilge pump replacement cartridge from West Marine doesn't need cutting to get to the motor shaft, and I got some boat props from hobbytown that fit the shaft perfectly, just tighten the key and go. The only issue is they produce more thrust in one direction than the other. Do you have the same issue? I also find that mounting your motors with PVC pipe clamps (in the 1 1/2 inch realm I think) and some old bicycle inner tube around the motors holds them on solidly, and you then put some bolts through the frame PVC (assuming your frame isn't watertight). This forms a very solid mount(at least for me) that doesnt move. It also doesn't crush your pipe like pipe clamps do.

[UberNoober]

Because of the shape and design of a propeller, and the way it's mounted on the motor, they produce more thrust in one way than the other. It's a problem all prop-driven ROV's must design around.

[R.A.T.M]

CAN I BUY ONE FROM YOU

[nomejodaslavida]

If you're going to use the submersible bilge pumps as motors, why not use them as they are, without propellers,  for jet propulsion?  You could even increase the force of the jet by by graduating the discharge down to a smaller size.

[berry120]

Propellers have the advantage that they can be run either way for forwards and backwards - they'll also give more thrust (though draw more current as a result.)

[MR JAMES]

cool i want 1 of these lol

[ghostrider2]

how much was the total cost of the project?

[SpaceShipOne]

about 300$, depends on how complicated you make it

[rajeev.piyare]

hi any idea if we can get the codes and circuit diagrams for this whole project so that we can implement as well please. Thanks

[BJMN]

I have a quick question - I remember learning in school that water is opaque to IR. My wife is a certified IR photo tech, and I know that our IR camera won't show things even just a few millimeters under the surface of water. Is it really IR that these cameras use?

[SpaceShipOne]

My camera is not an IR camera, but Sparkfun carries a similar model in IR. I do know that most people use night vision cameras, similar to the types that can be purchased form fishing stores. I have also heard of B&W cameras being used, since they are IR sensitive.

[BJMN]

Hmm - just curiosity, since I don't doubt you've researched more than I! But to rephrase my question - since water is opaque to IR, wouldn't IR cameras be relatively useless underwater? If B&W cameras were IR sensitive, wouldn't they still just be picking up the visible light spectrum, since water emits an even IR level? Anyhow - not looking to troll this thread out - but still curious as to how an IR camera would function underwater!

[rrrmanion]

maplin seem to be selling a camera that is apparently able to see up to 7m it has 12 IR LEDs, so it seems IR does work under-water so perhaps how you had it set up or something I don't know

[wheelerjp50]

Red light can penetrate up to 15 meters in water. Most b&w cameras pick up near infrared that is between red and true  infrared. So 7m sounds reasonable. Like any light it would be limited by suspended particles in the water.

[SpaceShipOne]

I don't know for sure, but it could be that water is opaque to only certain wavelengths of IR.

[quesoman]

is a video of the ROV in action possible?

[myfixitshowcom]

"This is plenum rated Cat 5, meaning that it can be pulled through walls using a fishtape."
...could be wrong, was couple times afore, but I think 'plenum' cable is cable which uses insulation that does not produce harmful vapors when burned. In some commercial buildings, a/c return-air is run (without ducts) in the space between the room ceiling and the floor above it, ie the 'plenum'. If a fire ever broke out, this specially-designed 'plenum' cable would not release toxic fumes into the a/c system air flow which would injure or kill all living creatures within the air conditioned space.
Other than that, thanks for the info here. I have been working on my own system, mostly to get live pics in the canals here in S. Fla. My interest is in getting the 'real' closeups of the many 'gators that live here; maybe one day I'll get some neat shots as my mini-cam gets swallowed whole!
myfixitshowcom

[your dog]

would be a good camera?
it also has infered so you would not have to buy lights

http://cgi.ebay.com/CCTV-Security-30-IR-LED-Waterproof-Camera-Power-Bracket_W0QQitemZ350211816960QQcmdZViewItem be a good camera?

[astrong0]

You spelled infra-red wrong

[SpaceShipOne]

Yes, that camera would work for this application, however, you would need a housing because this camera is not rated for underwater use. The best cameras are ones actually designated for underwater use.

[your dog]

it says it is waterproof in the title-

[SpaceShipOne]

Yes but unless it specifically says it is submersible to a rated depth, I would not trust it. Waterproof simply means, if it rains, it will not get damaged

[jumpup_dnb_dj]

I think you are actually making reference to water resistant not waterproof as you state here.

[SpaceShipOne]

I stand corrected, thanks

[amaineman57]

Super Ible! The only comment I would make after viewing the video is the need of prop guards to keep the umbilical from fouling the props. Other than that, Good show!

[awang8]

where can you buy a cheap 12v camera?

Spark fun costs AUD50 which is way too much.

[Pyrotechnic-Robot]

Ebay! I got my first few cameras from ebay I know you dislike ebay but I found for a mini camera for about 30$ My first was 12$ but the prices really popped up The sub that I am making will have one of my old wireless camera

[awang8]

EBay eh? Sometimes they're fake cameras and I hate them. Like, they claim to be real cameras and you end up with a el cheapo dummy camera. ¡¡ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq oʇ ƃuıoƃ ɯɐ ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ

[Pyrotechnic-Robot]

if you look for a mini spy camera you might find another camera. How did you type upside down? sweet.

[awang8]

How to type upside down.

1. Log on to www.ebay.com
2. Search "Keyboard" with the 2nd hand option.
3. Buy the cheapest one you can find.
4. There you go! You got successfully scammed and you should now be able to type upside down!

^{_{Just kidding}}

[clayball97]

serously though how do you type upside down

[Pyrotechnic-Robot]

ʇı ǝןƃooƃ