Blue ROV to the next level

We have tested the Fathom-X over 1000 meters of tether. Everything still works fine, and I didn’t notice any difference. The bandwidth was less than the 80 Mbps that we have listed (that was over 300 meters). I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I believe it was in the mid 50 Mbps range.

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Thanks for the Information Jonathan. I think this is more than enough.

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I would get well along with150m, even less but good to be able to termintae.

Hi guys
I thought I might attach a few photos of my attempt to get around the issue of controlling a manipulator. This prototype has two separate electronics systems going to two different computers and two joysticks. The thrusters are controlled by the first system and the T200 motors driving actuators which would allow me to pick up and manipulate things are controlled by the second set of electronics. It is an unwieldy way of doing things but until Ardusub allows for extra motor control, it is the best I can think of. I see I can change the IP address in the new raspian update for the Raspi but have yet to work out how to change the ID in the Pixhawk to keep the electronics as different systems while sharing the same tether.
I have 10 motors on this which can be changed from providing horizontal to vertical motion for different loads quickly with the motors being attached to quick release slots. I would like to be able to take some of the motors off altogether and am wondering if anybody has tried the Seacon 3 socket connectors to do this?
Given what costs to design, build and test manipulators, I think the price of around 1k quoted in earlier forums is relatively cheap and would be happy to pay that it if were available.

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Super cool!

You might try the servo* button functions to control everything with one system. Otherwise, look for the SYSID_THISMAV parameter to change the system id of the autopilot.

-Jacob

Hi Jacob

thanks for that. I had been using the channel 8 camera servo to run the T200 motors but had gotten concerned that the abrupt high revs starts could potentially damage the motors. Is it possible to continue using them that way and also configure the aux 1-3 to run more motors under the servo settings?

Can you share more about your camera system? Photos? I am too curious about adding multiple IP cameras to an ROV.

Hi Peter,

I have a topic in the build section: Low Cost HD-Zoom-Tilt Project

I’ll be posting everything there as this topic is already full with different subjects.

Cheers,
E.

…nå snakker vi… nettopp kommet inn i dette her, er dykker og ROV pilot og dette har jo potensialer slik jeg ser det;) Følger deg og bestiller… :wink:

One issue I have with the BR2 Gripper is that once I grab something, I would like to be able to lock out the gripper function until I have it safely on the surface in the boat. I am always worried about accidentally opening it when using the camera buttons.

That is so cool! How does the aluminum frame deal with the thruster loads?

Hi there

sorry I didnt see your message earlier. the aluminium frame is 3mm thick so the thruster loads have no discernable effect on it at all. super light and I have slotted the bolt holes to allow for easy removal of the thrusters if required.
cheers
John

I have resolved this somewhat by using the shift function with the grabber rather than just the normal buttons. This way it is more difficult to accidentally open the gripper once I have an object in it.

Are you running on batteries ? More than one i suppose do to the amount of thrusters. ?

Hi Oystein

for that prototype I was using using the one battery but as you can imagine, running that number of motors drains it pretty fast.