Features:

150ft Ethernet Tether
Over 35 pounds
Live video and telemetry feed!
Custom PCB and firmware
Pitch and depth control
Rated for over 50ft depth

Video:

Code:

There is an overview of this software on the Subcontrol page of this website!

Hull:

The hull was largely unchanged in this update, although it was polished considerably. More info on the actual construction of the hull is in the “nautilus” page of this portfolio.

Sealing:

We used 3m adhesive boat sealant. The key to this stuff is that you MUSTtake care to sand the surfaces and clean them with acetone before generously applying the sealant, and buy several tubes because you aren’t technically supposed to apply them after they’ve been open for a few days.

To find/patch leaks, I made a second bulkhead with a hose barb so that the hull could be pressurized. To detect leaks, pressurize the hull, dunk it in a bathtub or pool, and look for air bubbles streaming out. Find the source of the bubbles, patch them with sealant, and repeat until you can pressurize the hull adequately with no bubbles appearing. The most difficult part to seal is the rear bulkhead, and I recomend gas teflon tape and pipe dope, as well as tightening it for 3 turns beyond hand tight. Try not to break the hull when tightening.

Sleds:

We added the weight sleds for this version, filled with about 10 pounds of washers to weigh down the ROV.

Painting:

Electronics:

This is where the bulk of the overhaul was. The old system flat out didn’t work, and we realized that the best option would just be to overhaul it entirely and start from scratch. We kept the USB protocol, but we added a usb over ethernet extender, replaced the bulky circuitboard, and completely re-engineered the communications protocol.