Homebuilt ROVs Forum

So I had a project to do for school and I decided to build an ROV. I ended up finding this website and went ahead and followed the information provided about the Seafox to make it happen. So it's only right if I share what I've done and the building process
Testing has been limited however cause of lakes being frozen, so I had to make due with what I had to test!
So far it seems to be working pretty good, but my floats are oversized so I got to fix this problem. So now I am looking forward to warmer weather to explore the unknown depths of the lake near my house!

You're off to a good start!!

All i see in your post are image placeholders, i had to right-click, open in imgur to see each one. Dunno...?

I could use some explanation as to what the IC's on the breadboard do.

The floats are fine, just add more weight until it is just slightly positively buoyant. Then when you get near the bottom, you'll have to run your vertical thrusters to keep you there. Water jetting upwards will disturb much less silt than water jetting downwards.

I see your floats are bolted through the frame...make sure there are holes in the top and bottom of the frame, so it can flood during immersion, so the buoyancy doesn't change slowly as water seeps into the hollow frame.

You might put the vertical thrusters on a PWM controller, so you could set a certain level of thrust and leave it there.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10A-Pulse-Widt ... OSwkl5XflA~

Remember to keep your lights as far from your camera as possible, to reduce backscatter off particulate matter floating in the water. Otherwise it's like trying to look through a snowstorm.

For cheap but hella bright LED lights, i bought these and coated them with epoxy resin fiberglass (two part epoxy), local craft store, 5-minute cure. Can be thinned with denatured alcohol. No fancy case needed. Can be dimmed with PWM controller. Controller can be operated by a servo on the ROV. https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Trailer-M ... th=1&psc=1

Here's a 3-axis joystick with button you might like... https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Joystick ... AC8K785XZW

You say the lake is frozen...how frozen? Could you throw together an icehouse and drag it out, chainsaw a hole in the ice, sit next to a propane heater and have fun exploring in the winter? I'd do that here but the water 'clarity' is like looking through wet concrete...lol.

Could you try reposting the pictures a different way. I couldn't open them a all, and i'd really like to see them.

Oddmar wrote:You're off to a good start!!

All i see in your post are image placeholders, i had to right-click, open in imgur to see each one. Dunno...?

I could use some explanation as to what the IC's on the breadboard do.

The floats are fine, just add more weight until it is just slightly positively buoyant. Then when you get near the bottom, you'll have to run your vertical thrusters to keep you there. Water jetting upwards will disturb much less silt than water jetting downwards.

I see your floats are bolted through the frame...make sure there are holes in the top and bottom of the frame, so it can flood during immersion, so the buoyancy doesn't change slowly as water seeps into the hollow frame.

You might put the vertical thrusters on a PWM controller, so you could set a certain level of thrust and leave it there.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10A-Pulse-Widt ... OSwkl5XflA~

Remember to keep your lights as far from your camera as possible, to reduce backscatter off particulate matter floating in the water. Otherwise it's like trying to look through a snowstorm.

For cheap but hella bright LED lights, i bought these and coated them with epoxy resin fiberglass (two part epoxy), local craft store, 5-minute cure. Can be thinned with denatured alcohol. No fancy case needed. Can be dimmed with PWM controller. Controller can be operated by a servo on the ROV. https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Trailer-M ... th=1&psc=1

Here's a 3-axis joystick with button you might like... https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Joystick ... AC8K785XZW

You say the lake is frozen...how frozen? Could you throw together an icehouse and drag it out, chainsaw a hole in the ice, sit next to a propane heater and have fun exploring in the winter? I'd do that here but the water 'clarity' is like looking through wet concrete...lol.

Thanks for the information! I'll look into adding these things as I continue to test my ROV. And about your questions, the IC's consist of a PIC16F690 microcontroller and an ULN2803A Darlington transistor chip, the PIC takes the button presses and fires the coils of the relays which control the motors. I'll attach a schematic of the whole system.

And for the ice, I wasn't too sure if the cold could impact the ROV negatively. Also right now the ice is not thick enough, maybe in a few weeks I'll give it a try.

And I just worked out how to attach photos properly!

Ian MacKenzie wrote:Could you try reposting the pictures a different way. I couldn't open them a all, and i'd really like to see them.

Fixed the issue! But now for some reason, they are sideways even though the saved pictures upright, I'll look into it.

Nice! The ICs are a great idea. I did my first test in a bathtub too.

You might try using an older RC Tx with DSC, or even two of them. Look at this thread...
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