Post by larrykoskie on Oct 30, 2017 19:36:08 GMT -5
I am starting to build a remote control underwater rover to record video of whatever I can locate at the bottom of a lake or pond. This is a project that I have wanted to build for some time. I have purchased use items that might be useful for this project. I found a car back up camera that can be plugged into the back of a cars dvd player. That might work for my camera, it is waterproof and HD 1080. I ordered a couple of 750kv brushless motors and propellers that might work too. I have come up with a possible 3D designed vehicle for this project that can be modified to any changing design issues that come up.The camera mounts up front in what looks likes the mouth of this creature. The eyes are where the led or infrared lights mount. There are two motors in the rear to control right, left, forward or reverse. And the two dive planes on the sides control up and down. The bottom is flat to attach any flat metal plates needed to achieve the proper buoyancy. Making this water tight will be a challenge. I am just wanting to know if there is anyone interested in working with me on this project. The plan is make this a tethered vehicle with a feed to a recording device on the surface and controlled by a couple of joysticks. Any suggestions?
Just to note, your motors need to be sealed and your camera might be listed as "water proof" but that is at 0 depth. My guess is it's not water proof after about 6 feet.
Last Edit: Oct 30, 2017 20:42:35 GMT -5 by BeeAmaker
Some things are meant to be closed. Your mind isn't one of them.
Post by larrykoskie on Oct 30, 2017 21:59:13 GMT -5
I got some of my ideas from those sites but thought that their kit price was a bit out of my price range. But their ideas were helpful. I was wondering about how waterproof the camera might be too. It might need to be enclosed and that would be a redesign for sure. Those are some of the things I need to find out.
Post by larrykoskie on Nov 22, 2017 17:51:15 GMT -5
I have drastically changed the design of my water rover. I thought the dive plane idea wouldn't work because it could go into a dive and continue to arc over until it actually flipped upside down. In deep water there would be no way to know the angle of the dive or direction of travel. So instead of the dive plane I have changed to a fixed wing with the motors, propellers, and headlights mounted on the end of the wing. Internally I installed a servo to swing a heavy mass to change the center of gravity to change the angle of the wings so it would either dive, surface, or float along level to the bottom. So this design now looks more like this
Post by larrykoskie on Jan 19, 2018 16:53:29 GMT -5
I was doing a little research concerning the problem I had with my servo jittering and not moving in a smooth operation. I did a little reading and discovered that servos have a set working frequency and trying to operate them at a higher frequency causes the problem I was having. I first tried to decrease the time and it got worse. So I added more delay time at the end of my sketch and the problem went away. So a few statement that I found while reading I put together in the attached pdf page.
Post by larrykoskie on Mar 12, 2018 18:12:53 GMT -5
I was still having the same problem with a jerky servo. So I put a voltmeter on my power source to the servo and found it jumping from 4.6 volts to 5 volts. I also put the voltmeter on the pwm signal to the servo and found it fluctuating the same amount as the source voltage. So I concluded that the servo would swing with a jerky motion causing a power surge to the servo causing the voltage drop which in turn caused a drop in the pwm signal causing it to jerk to the new location causing the power serge and voltage drop to the servo. One jerk just caused the next jerk. So I separated the Arduino operating 5.0 volts from the servo operating 5.0 volts and powered the servo with a separate voltage source. This then prevented the voltage operating the Arduino from fluctuating and cause a steady pwm supply to the servo and stopped the jerking motion. I had to cut a circuit trace on the motor shield to separate the servo power from the Arduino power and it cured my problem, finally. So now it is ready for underwater testing.