4-12-2006

ROV progress… This last week we haven’t had much, so we are meeting early this Wednesday. Last week several areas of our project were discussed and decided as a group. The frame design and thruster configuration was decided. We decided on using a 5 thruster design allowing us to use all four thrusters for horizontal travel. We still need to find the best way to control all thrusters in unison.

The frame will be constructed from 2’x3’x .33” HDPE plastic. The through hull for the 5th thruster will be made out of PVC piping. The thruster shrouds will be made of the same material. We have found a supplier who is willing to sell us materials at a discounted rate. For thruster motors we are going to use Mayfair 500 GPM bilge pumps donated to us by Greg at Johnson Pumps.

During lab we were able to test a gas RC propeller with a aluminum collar on a Mayfair 500 GPM pump to find out the amperage usage. In water testing has show that the untrimmed prop/motor combination uses about 12amps. Though there was high torque the RPM’s were too slow and next week we will test modified propellers with PVC shrouds to test for proper amperage draw.

4-06-06
Today i am a dummy and inorder to prove it...

Electronis by Dr. Malcom Plant

and

Electronics for DUMMIES by McComb and Boysen

3-22-06 & 3-29-06
The 1st day of ROV

In hind sight I should have posted this earlier, but I didn’t. There were several things accomplished this 1st day, as a group we meet and strategized about possible designs for a successful ROV. Many resources were used, we scoured the class website, internet, magazines and even past ROV carcasses left at MDT. This works fruition was a list of general areas that need specific focus in order for our group to succeeded. The class website lists the following areas:

Vehicle Structure
Vehicle Electrical & Electronic
Hydraulic System
Propulsion
Lighting
Camera Systems
Manipulators
Umbilical
Control Van
Pilot's Control Console
Handling System
Power Supply System

Our list was more simplified as we grouped several areas together. The vehicle structure and propulsion systems are tied in together since our shrouded thrusters are fixed and tied into the vehicles frame. We are currently searching for cost effective magnetically coupled 12 volt DC motors but also sourced Water proof bilge pump motors as they are a commonly used and cost effective given our budget. Propeller design is also a concern. We need to find the best lbs of thrust versus amperage as we are limited to 12v 30 amps. The frame will be constructed from Polypropylene sheets with PVC shrouds and stainless steel fasteners. We won’t have a control van or manipulator or need for Hydraulics. The power supply, electronic controllers and handling system at present will be tied into a PIC processor and DC motor controlling unit controlled via 3 axis joystick. Currently the control system is our biggest area of concern given our groups general lack of electronic education and experience. As of yet we have not decided on a specific camera system but do feel that it should be self powered via a topside connection to the surface so that it is independent from the power supply provided to us. If possible lighting will be included in this via High intensity LED illumination mounted to the ROV frame focused forward of the vehicle. Options for the umbilical have as of yet not been finalized. Below is a copy of our thruster placement. The vertical thruster will be fixed in the center of the four horizontal thrusters.

In the Beginning

I am currently a student at Santa Barbara City College, enrolled in Marine Diving Technology. Part of this program includes a class focused on Remote operated vehicles (ROV’s), manned submersibles (submarines) and Atmospheric diving systems (ADS). For our final project we are given a small budget and allowed to construct our own ROV. The class website is : http://instructors.sbcc.edu/barthelmess/rov/index.htm As in the real world we are limed by our budget, time and power supply. Part of the project involves posting to our class blog http://marinetech.blogspot.com/ with periodic updates and useful information for other groups, such as parts suppliers, video cameras etc. I decided to document the process further and have chosen this medium to do so. My fellow group members are; C. Baez, M. Almada, A. Crouse, D. Pyle, S. Keeton, M. Miller, P. Lazazzera.


If for some reason you happen to have knowledge, information or expertise in the areas of ROV’s or electronics these are the areas our group currently needs help with:

CONTROL SYSTEM – Commercial ROV’s use joysticks to control their movement within 3 axes (UP/DOWN, FORWARD/BACKWARD, LEFT/RIGHT, and FIXED POSITION SPIN LEFT/RIGHT) There seem to be several different ways to accomplish this task and they range from switches and lots of wires to using PIC controllers. Currently we know what we want, we just don’t know how to make it. I would make things easier if I had the slightest about electronics but I don’t…I will be going to get an electronics for dummies book soon…