Homebuilt ROVs Forum

ok. I was thinking it would actually sink and need some flotation. it would be a shame to add ugly floats and/or weights to your beautiful machine!

derelicte wrote:ok. I was thinking it would actually sink and need some flotation. it would be a shame to add ugly floats and/or weights to your beautiful machine!

oh see what you mean lol. even when it was floating half way i had to push it quite hard to get it to go under.i will prob need about 2-3kg of weight on the bottom of it after i put all the bits on it.
adam

while i am waiting for some more bits to come i have been looking into making a gripper arm to bolt to the bottom of the skid.
i have found an old battery drill i have had in my shed for a few years, after taking it apart the gearbox bit looks like it would make an easy conversion. the motor fits into the back of it and it has 5 toque setting so should stop me burning out the motor.
adam

turtle wrote:

derelicte wrote:ok. I was thinking it would actually sink and need some flotation. it would be a shame to add ugly floats and/or weights to your beautiful machine!

oh see what you mean lol. even when it was floating half way i had to push it quite hard to get it to go under.i will prob need about 2-3kg of weight on the bottom of it after i put all the bits on it.
adam

Think Dere is right and that it will sink, unless your sealed thruster housings provide enough buoyancy for it to float ( like JWs Observer). My machine is similar viewtopic.php?f=18&t=445 ( not nearly as beautiful..lol) and during leak testing of cylinder i could hardly press it down. I even added ss hollow skids to be able to fill with weight. Short story, it sank like a rock when electronics were added. Now i am trying to figure out how to create some poor mans synthetic foam and where to attach it..lol

manhattan wrote:

turtle wrote:

derelicte wrote:ok. I was thinking it would actually sink and need some flotation. it would be a shame to add ugly floats and/or weights to your beautiful machine!

oh see what you mean lol. even when it was floating half way i had to push it quite hard to get it to go under.i will prob need about 2-3kg of weight on the bottom of it after i put all the bits on it.
adam

Think Dere is right and that it will sink, unless your sealed thruster housings provide enough buoyancy for it to float ( like JWs Observer). My machine is similar viewtopic.php?f=18&t=445 ( not nearly as beautiful..lol) and during leak testing of cylinder i could hardly press it down. I even added ss hollow skids to be able to fill with weight. Short story, it sank like a rock when electronics were added. Now i am trying to figure out how to create some poor mans synthetic foam and where to attach it..lol

how thick was your tubing. mine is only 2mm thick. mine is about 8 liters and the things weight i will be about 4kg max with all the bits so it shouldnt sink. i hope lol
adam

Mine is thicker, was 10mm drilled out to 4mm except the ends and OD is 100 mm. You have more air in but then you have a hole through it as well. Guess it will depend on amount of electronics inside. If you did your math stick to you plan, as said it would be sad to ruin the looks of your machine now.

External floatation (non air) is not necessarily a bad thing (except the looks). If you are weighted neutral at surface you will still get negative at 10m depth and heavy at 40 meaning you have to keep vertical thrusters running to compensate. I think some closed-cell foam as buoyancy can remove some weight at depth, not 100% since compressed air will still be the problem (free-diver in me talking )?

i'am still waiting for the seals to come its been about 2 weeks now i might just order them from someone else and claim the money back with ppal.
adam

quick update, heres a pic with my new board camera in, as i tryed the hd camera i had and it wasnt very good. but this one has 0 lux and is very good in low light.



heres a pic of how i had to get the wires from the main body to the lights and thrusters. i am going to seal the thrusters from the lights just incase the thruster seals leak

Looking awesome. Great job and keep those pics coming!

bikerbones1968 wrote:Looking awesome. Great job and keep those pics coming!

thanks bikerbones , i will be putting some more up by the end of the week, i am just waiting on the prop adaptors to come as the ones i already bought were the wrong size. i think i have that many spares now i could build another one lol.
adam