The Seafox Retrofit

The Seafox worked good in it's original configuration but it was underpowered using the Standard Bilge Pumps with the way I had them wired so I've decided to Retrofit it with some new upgrades. I could have just used thicker gauge power wires for the pumps and that would have made a vast improvement but I decided to upgrade the pumps to run propellers for optimal thrust.

I'm also going to be using the Seafox as a test bed to finalize my software and try out some new features I will be using on the new Rov I am designing.

The main thing I wanted to test out was the Camera, Manipulator, and Auxiliary Lighting pivoting on the same mount, I also wanted to add a digital compass for navigation.

The Feature pages to the left show the brake down of the different aspects and components of the Rov. I've also went into a little more detail of how I did things that were never shown on the original Seafox Pages. I do need to fix a few issues, I am still working on the lighting, and I need to fix some buoyancy issues with the Tether as the pipe insulation just doesn't work. I also plan on adding one more Vertical Thruster, because the boat propellers are not very efficient in reverse so surfacing is slow and there is not enough thrust to lift objects from the bottom.

Everything else worked great in the few dives I have done so far. I still may add more detail as I get farther into testing but if there is anything you would like to know that I haven't shown yet just e-mail me and I will try to explain things.

All Information, Pictures, and Material is copyright © 1998-2009 by Stephen Thone and may not be used for any personal or commercial purposes without the consent of the author. All rights reserved. The Author makes no guarantees or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of, or results to be obtained from accessing and using the Information herein.