ROV Inspired by TankBot by SkyRider

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This is my TankBot inspired ROV (which in turn is inspired by the Veterobot). I am missing the back panel, but there should be enough room to install small motors, a suitable prop (ROV props are on Thingiverse) and an R/C system out of a toy car along with batteries. I will publish updates shortly. I have not tested this and I have not cleaned out the interior and I may not anyway. I might add a set of planes at the front for pitch stability, but otherwise it's mostly there. If you do make it, drop me a line. I will wrap up my initial development in a couple of days.
Update 7/18/14: Added some planes, which I might next allow to work as dive planes if I use a servo (they are fixed now). You will need to seal the intakes at the front and the panel at the back or use a pressure hull inside for the electronics. I will leave the waterproofing of the motor (and/or mounting it) to you. There are lots of ways to do this, but I plan to seal up a pair of small motors and mount them to the rear making the props run as tractor vs. pusher props. I took 2 pancake type motors out of an old CD player which should fit neatly, although I will probably need a coupling between prop and motor to fit in the hole inside the duct.
Update 8/5/14: Let me apologize in advance for the terrible error with the diving planes. They are horrible. I am working on a set that is removable/movable. I have also purchased a pair of waterproof submersible pumps from Amazon and I am going to try fitting those onto the front of the ducts in place of the props (perhaps designing a casing for them). That seems like a far better solution than trying to waterproof the motors. I have separated the ducts as well so that those can be mounted independently and attached to a micro servo. That then permits diving and surfacing as well as turning just by rotating the ducts: both straight and you go forward. One down and one straight will let you bank (and so turn). Both down points the nose up, and you surface. Both down points the nose down and you dive. If anyone has any thoughts, please speak up.