Doug and Kay are currently building an underwater ROV capable of diving 3,000 below the waves, maneuvering on the ocean floor and relaying video as well as side-scan sonar signals back to the surface.
As HackADay’s Brian Benchoff notes, the duo continues to document the entire build process on YouTube, with the first video depicting the construction of a pressure vessel.
“For communication with the surface everything is passing over a single Cat5 cable. They’re using an Ethernet extender that uses a twisted wire pair to bring Ethernet to the ocean bottom,” Benchoff explained.
“With that, a few IP webcams relay video up to the ship and a simple [Atmel-based] Arduino setup allows for control of the ship’s thrusters.”
In terms of the thrusters, Doug and Kay selected off the shelf brushless mortars for model RC cars and planes.
“By potting the coils of a brushless outrunner motor, Doug and Kay found this solution makes an awful lot of sense,” Benchoff continued.
“It’s cheap, fairly reliable, doesn’t require a whole lot of engineering.”
Interested in learning more about the undersea ROV project? You can check out Doug and Kay’s official blog here.
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