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New Propeller ROV — Parallax Forums

New Propeller ROV

Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
edited 2011-04-29 06:19 in Propeller 1
Some friends and I have been working on a Propeller powered ROV for the last couple months. We just did our first pool test this morning, and it worked. We'll be posting more details, photos, and videos later, but I'll just leave this image for now.

ROV 2.jpg
ROV 1.jpg


Details:

* 3 Minn Kota 12V trolling motors
* 8" PVC pods
* 4 lead acid batteries
* video and lights (not yet working)
* using the top joystick on a wii nunchuck controller for differential thrust (works very well)
* using the c and z buttons on the nunchuck for vertical impulse thrust
* weighs a bit over 200 lbs
ROV 2.jpg
1024 x 576 - 116K
ROV 1.jpg
1024 x 683 - 127K

Comments

  • Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
    edited 2011-04-26 10:14
    Forgot to add that all telemetry and controls are going over a single cat-5 cable using RS-485 and plain serial. Thanks to every one a few months back who gave me advice on how to do it.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-04-26 10:28
    'Nice-looking unit, Jay! It looks like you've got a really decent space to work in, too. Zo many qvestions:
    1. Are the clear domes plexi compass housings, or something else?

    2. What maximum depth do you anticipate?

    3. What method did you finally settle on for sending video over the CAT5?

    -Phil
  • ctwardellctwardell Posts: 1,716
    edited 2011-04-26 10:30
    Those look very cool.
  • Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
    edited 2011-04-26 10:54
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    'Nice-looking unit, Jay! It looks like you've got a really decent space to work in, too. Zo many qvestions:
    1. Are the clear domes plexi compass housings, or something else?

    2. What maximum depth do you anticipate?

    3. What method did you finally settle on for sending video over the CAT5?

    -Phil

    Thanks.

    1. I'm not sure what the acrylic domes were meant for. I just ordered the cheapest ones I could find that were around the right size.
    2. As it is now, it can only go down one atmostphere, or around 30 feet. That's what the trolling motors are rated for. To go deeper, we'd have to add pressure compensation.
    3. Well, nothing at the moment. We only have a 60' umbilical, and the video came with a 60' cable, so I'm hoping it will work. But I wont know if it does until when we present to the school's Admiral tomorrow.

    Hopefully, some students can pick up this project in coming years, since most of the guys working on it are graduating in a week, and I only have another semester left next year. It's bit advanced for our school, so we're going to have to document it well, and of course we'll release all the documentation. But, I'm leaving for sea next monday, so it'll probably have to wait.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2011-04-26 11:02
    Excellent!!

    Propellers take to water like ......well, like Arduino's to Installation Art......

    This is inspiring!

    Rick
  • Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
    edited 2011-04-26 11:17
    Rick, you'd be surprised how simple the electronics are. I was busy helping the two mechanical engineering students with working us, since I'm the only one with a welder. I didn't start on the electronics/coding until this past saturday. It's just one proto board on the ROV and another on land. And in reality, the board on the ROV is unnecessary, since the motor controllers we're using (Sabertooth 2x25 and SynRen 25) take serial. But I chose to put a board on the ROV so we could later add a pan/tilt mount for the camera, and switching controls for the lights.

    The only thing that remans to be seen is if it will be difficult to control from video only, since the camera is in the starboard pod and the lights in the other. But I can drive a car while offset, so it should be doable.

    I was in the pool checking for leaks tangles, so I didn't get to drive it. But the guys said it was very responsive and easy to control. I set up simple differential drive for the thrusters, and made it have exponential response to smooth things out near the zero point. I couldn't my code worked on the first run, and definitely wasn't expecting to work well. The only problem I noticed was that the motors occasionally turned without any input. My only guess is that the 9V battery I had hooked up to the dry side controller was running down, or maybe some noise got injected somewhere.
  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,756
    edited 2011-04-26 16:55
    Great Project Jay!
    Hope you get to post the videos before you ship out!
    Jim
  • Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
    edited 2011-04-26 17:36
    My buddy frank just posted a video. We don't have on-board video working yet, so I apologize for having to view it through the waves.
  • vanmunchvanmunch Posts: 568
    edited 2011-04-26 20:12
    Looks like a lot of fun. Have fun at sea!
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-04-26 20:15
    Now that is a fun looking and advanced project!
    Good luck with it :-)
  • LtechLtech Posts: 366
    edited 2011-04-27 00:33
    Video on cat5 ? Lynx has cheap stuf....

    http://www.lynxbroadband.com/PDFs/Bobcat%20Literature-Audio%20and%20Video%20on%20Twisted%20Pair.pdf



    Canford has also some compact
    (balun = balanced to unbalanced audio)

    http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/2006022/28-7027_MUXLAB-500027-Stereo-audio-balun
  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,756
    edited 2011-04-27 05:54
    Way to Go! Hope the Admiral liked it!
    Jim
  • Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
    edited 2011-04-28 17:51
  • davidsaundersdavidsaunders Posts: 1,559
    edited 2011-04-28 18:31
    Wow, way cool.

    On the video issue, if you use double the signal in the CAT5, by having a duplicate of the positive voltage in negative, it should not cause as much interference, also if using the same cable for both video and serial, place your Vss, and Vcc lines between serial lines and video lines.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-04-28 19:04
    'Very cool, Jay! The video feed has amazing clarity (when it works)! Who are the brass, and what are their roles and objectives in your project? Any ideas about why the video cuts out during data transmission?

    -Phil
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2011-04-28 19:22
    WOW Nice project Jay. Congrats to all involved!!!
  • M. K. BorriM. K. Borri Posts: 279
    edited 2011-04-28 22:15
    Very cool! This is what we did in 2008 (autonomous or remote controlled). I'm also helping move the openrov guys from arduino to propeller, if you want to talk to them they'd love it I'm sure!!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en5TCSHZDyY
  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,756
    edited 2011-04-29 06:19
    Way cool Jay! You might suggest for next years group that they develop afiberoptic control as that will eliminate any crosstalk and probably extend the range. I hope the Admiral loved it.
    Jim
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