[JavaDog]

I figured this might interest some of you guys...

Ok, so we just got back from vacation. Every year we take a week off of work and go downstate to my Fiancé’s camp, which happens to be on a nice man made lake. We don't leave the camp (which is on an Island to boot!) from Saturday to Saturday. With the Family up there as well, it is always a blast.

Now, my Fiancé’s Brother and I are geeks. We're not ashamed. Being the geeks that we are, we always come up with some sort of project to bring up to the lake and play with. This year, two weeks before vacation, we decided to build an Underwater ROV. For those not familiar, an ROV is a Remotely Operated Vehicle. Generally "real" ROVs cost anywhere from $8,000 up to Millions of dollars. We had two weeks and a $100 budget. Usually they have high-resolution camera systems and high powered thrusters to maneuver. We had two weeks and a $100 budget. However, the results were pretty good.

Ours isn't a true ROV because we didn't have the time/budget to do Thrusters. So, we call ours a Towed Remote Observation Vehicle or tROV. Our tROV is equipped with a basic B/W Camera, capable of Night vision with IR Illumination as well as a secondary Color Camera. The frame will be made from PVC and the Camera Tube will be made from 1/4" clear Acrylic with 1/2" clear acrylic end-caps. There is a 100ft Umbilical (Tether) which provides Power to the cameras as well as video back to the surface. Using an external video capture device and a laptop we could monitor and record the video in real-time. We had to cut some corners to get it done in time, but it still needed to be waterproof and work!

Without further delay, the build log:

[JavaDog]

First some pictures of all the bits and bobbles we bought. 95% of the parts came from Lowes and Home-Depot.

General overview of the parts:


Here you can see the clasps (that we didn't use) and the thimbles for the tether:


These are some handy little PVC bits we found at Lowes. Not sure what their real use is, but they will be a perfect addition for our frame:


Here you can see the camera tube with the raw 1/2" end cap. Also, you can see the rubber-lined clamps and locking carabineers we will use for tether attachment:


Multitude of PVC Connectors and Elbows for the frame:

[JavaDog]

Frame Assembly!

Here we are starting to cut the straight pieces for the frame:


Test-Fitting as we go, also needed to get measurements for the cuts:


Another shot of the dry-fitting showing the frame and our hand tools:


This shows the frame dry-fitted with the ballast-tanks zip-tied on for the photo:


The ballast tanks were made from some 3" PVC with end-caps glued on. On the back of the ballast tanks we used a rubber screw-type plug to seal the ends. That way we could open them and add weights/water to adjust the weight of the tROV.

Front shot:

[JavaDog]

Time to start gluing up the frame! Great part about PVC is the fact that it is super easy to cut, cheap, and stupid-simple to glue up.

Glued the bottom first (to keep it flat and square) then we started to glue up one side:


Now the top (and we completed the other side):

[JavaDog]

Once the frame was glued, we let it sit for a day - then it was on to painting!! Now, when painting PVC Pipe, make sure you scuff it up with some fine sandpaper (don't gouge or scratch it though) and it really helps if you shoot a coat or two of primer.

First coat on the Ballast Tubes. We will be doing a 2-color pattern:


Once the black was dry, time to tape it up:


All taped up and the top coat being sprayed:


All done! It doesn't look like it, but the pattern is even and the two tubes match:


Now, onto the frame...

[JavaDog]

Who is that fat bastard?


Whoever he is, he shot a good primer coat:


Now the top coat. As you can see, we chose the ever popular Yellow (It's the new Red dontcha know):


All finished and looking good:


Random Milk crate!!


Random Milk crate Carnage!!


Ok, so not so random. We wanted a floor for our tROV frame, and the bottom of the milk crate was perfect (after we shot it with a coat of black paint as well). Where do you get milk crates, you ask? Why, you steal them from behind convenience stores, of course!

[JavaDog]

Now onto the Camera Tube. This would be the most complicated part.

Here are some pre-build ideas we rendered. The Green part is the removable camera sled:


Render shot with the end-caps:


Time to start building! We had a friend with a lathe help us out (since we didn't have a lathe!).

Here he is truing up the camera tube:


Sexy Lathe Action! Just taking a few thou off to get a nice true end for the gasket (did both ends):


Now he is turning the end caps. One half will fit tight into the tube; other will sit over the tube:


Like this:


Two parts:

[ViperTX]

So, ya took the lathe on your vacation?? Otherwise...great work!

[JavaDog]

So, ya took the lathe on your vacation?? Otherwise...great work!

I wish! That was a week before we left, and sadly - not my lathe. It is a Friend's lathe. Big monster Monarch, it is nice...I'm jealous.

-------

Now that we have the end caps done and the tube all trued up, we need to make a way to mount the cameras. To make our life easier we wanted to have the camera and electronics mounted to a removable sled.

In order to make the sled, I cut a piece of acrylic to the right length and width. Then, I set it into the tube to mark where it sat. Then I used some acrylic triangles (used for mounting things) to keep the sled in place. With some electrical tape on the slides of the sled (keeps it tight, and doesn't scratch) it was a perfect fit!

The finished sled:


Front view. You can see the front end-cap that is permanently glued in place (and water-tight!):


You can also see the logo we printed up. Apologies to the Kalamazoo Hornets, it is their logo we modified.

The sled with the B/W Camera's mount bolted in:

[JavaDog]

End cap plug and internal wiring.

On the back removable end cap there is a waterproof electrical connector. We went with the 400-Series Buccaneer from Bulgin

Here is a good diagram of how the connector works (and it shows the panel-mount socket we used too):


The B/W camera came from Harbor Freight and was on sale for $29.99. Best part is that it was designed to send video/audio and power over an RJ11 cable, and it comes with an 80ft cable. Now, we didn't care about the audio (nothing much to hear at the bottom of a lake!) so we decided to send the video from a Color "Spy-Cam" that I had bought off of eBay a while back over the audio line. Everything was RCA, so it was just a matter of clipping the audio lead coming from the camera and replacing it with the RCA video from the color camera. All we needed was a donor RCA cable and a junction block.

Here is the completed block:


The RJ11 jack goes into the socket on the B/W Camera, and the male RCA plugs into my Color Camera. The other end is wired with the socket-pins that go into the Bulgin panel-mount socket on the back cap.

Sockets:

[JavaDog]

Now came time to put everything in the tube and seal her up for the maiden voyage!

You'll remember those clasps I mentioned in the beginning (the ones we didn't use), well those were originally intended to clamp the back cap closed and keep pressure on the gasket. However, we ran out of time when making the blocks to mount them on the tube. So, an alternate solution was needed. So, late on the last night we had we came up with this idea.

I had some clamps, which we decided would be perfect as both a clamp (duh) for the end-cap and a mount to hold the tube to the frame. Amazingly, it worked excellent. We clamped the end-cap with gasket, and then ran a bead of clear silicone (which can be peeled off) as some extra protection. Water tight as a ducks ass!

On the first run we ran the B/W camera only.

Here is the camera mounted in the tube. You can see the front of the clamps:


Side view, you can see the bead of silicone at the back:


Now, for the second run we also stuffed my Color Camera and electronics into the tube.

B/W and Color Camera:


Another view:


Side view showing all the electronics:

[JavaDog]

Now for some general overall views...

Front shot, shows the clamping system for the camera tube pretty well:


Another:


Fresh out of the water, you can see the end of the tether and the mounting chains we used:


You'll also notice the high-tech fish attracting glowstick on the front of the frame.

Another:


Last shot for now, shows the cooler we used to hold the 100ft of tether:

[JavaDog]

Coming Soon!!

Soon we will have the video all edited (with spiffy music, no less!) and up. Also, working on some pretty wall-paper type pictures that will be done soon...

[ynneb]

Great Job, just what I would always expect from Javadog.

Sorry for my ignorance. But you need all this to take underwater video?
100 bucks? Nah that acrylic tube would have almost cost that in itself ?
I would have thought you could have just used standard plumbing pipe and just a clear end lens. I guess it wouldnt look as good though.
Whats the deal with the bee / wasp logo? Is that to scare away the pirania ?

[JavaDog]

Great Job, just what I would always expect from Javadog.

Sorry for my ignorance. But you need all this to take underwater video?
100 bucks? Nah that acrylic tube would have almost cost that in itself ?
I would have thought you could have just used standard plumbing pipe and just a clear end lens. I guess it wouldnt look as good though.
Whats the deal with the bee / wasp logo? Is that to scare away the pirania ?

Thanks, glad you like it.

All those acrylic tubes you saw on my workbench cost about $4. Not each, for all of them. I have a really good local plastics supplier.

The all clear tube is easier to check for leaks/moisture, but you could use a PVC tube no problem.

The Hornet logo is something my Step-Brother came up with - he named this ROV the 'Aqua-Hornet'.

[skippy]

"All those acrylic tubes you saw on my workbench cost about $4 Not each, for all of them. I have a really good local plastics supplier" A REALLY GOOD supplier in fact. Do the bits get delivered during the night by any chance?
Hey Javadog, what a fantastic project. What a brother-in-law. My brother in law comes up with new ideas too. But in the other direction, such as "how to avoid working", "give this to someone else to do" and others ideas along that vein.

[buscht]

Very cool!
Fantastic idea and work.
Trent

[santiniuk]

Excellent !

Very interesting thread. I have a friend who would love to see this. I remember him going on and on about a ROV he was planning to build.

I remember him bringing bits into work to modify but never did find out how he got on.

Cannot wait to see the video / pics.

Cheers !

< Update your build thread too ! >

[JavaDog]

Excellent !

Very interesting thread. I have a friend who would love to see this. I remember him going on and on about a ROV he was planning to build.

I remember him bringing bits into work to modify but never did find out how he got on.

Cannot wait to see the video / pics.

Cheers !

< Update your build thread too ! >

Surprisingly, it really wasn't as hard as I would have thought. Now, version two that we are making for next year will be a bit more involved.

Yeah, with the week of vacation and the two weeks working on this I have been neglecting my CNC Build - but it is back to work on it now!

[JavaDog]

Ok, the first video is up!

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