Hi all I am planning a 3 thruster deep water rov ,I am too old to mix gas dive to 300 ft plus for shipwreck safe recovery ,using online voltage drop calculators. I am getting mixed results and need a bit of help ,the rov will also have 2 manipulator arms and twin hi def color cams linked to a virtual reality helmet ,gps ,and a mini sediment dredge ,max depth needed is 400 ft I need any and all advice
many thank you’s rey
I sent you an e-mail … if you have questions that you don’t mind being public, share them so others might answer or hear answers. Just a thought.
My advice would be to “stay tuned” to this forum. Rusty just completed testing a number of components to 150 and 200 meters. I’m sure he will be making this data public soon. I’ve also started building a ROV that will be rated to 150+ meters and will be posting my progress in the near future. There’s never been a better time to build your own ROV, the selection and price of components is lightyears ahead of what it was just a year or two ago.
Hi Captain Rey,
Thanks for posting. Using an ROV is definitely safer than deep mixed-gas diving!
I’ll provide some comments here but please feel free to ask more specific questions as well.
Voltage drop: Unless you use thick gauge and/or high voltage, the voltage drop will be huge through a tether. We are using onboard batteries for this reason.
Manipulators: Did you already find this? There aren’t many affordable ones available yet unfortunately.
2 x HD Cams: For HD you’ll need an Ethernet connection and computer or an (expensive) analog HD-SDI setup. There’s advantages and disadvantages to each. I assume you want 3d with VR helmet?
GPS: GPS doesn’t work underwater. You can use GPS on your boat but it is difficult to position the ROV without a USBL sonar or other positioning device.
400 ft depth: Our enclosures are all rated for 100m currently, but they have a rather large safety factor. 400 ft is actually doable with all of our current enclosures.
I hope that helps.
By the way, I’m going to change the title of this post so other people can find it more easily and join the conversation.
Best,
Rusty
Some feedback on your “wish list”:
It sounds to me like you either need a mid sized ROV or need to scale down your requirements for the ROV. You can probably find a decent, used Panther for around $500K to which you would need to add HD video. You can also rent ROVs this size or larger, but you will also need someone on board skilled in flying and servicing ROVs.
Thank you all !
( 4 am again )
Ive been putting in 15 hr days,7 days a week still in just the research on this , Ive got 2 sailing yachts now(one to flip) and one to live on …on just my word. I live now less than 4 miles from the first wreck of intrest .there are 3 wrecks on the california coast and the total worth of gold and items is over 100 million dollars ,all three wrecks have produced valubales ,and lawsuits …I went thru law school then decided the world had too many lawyers allready …bottom line is under federal maratime law, salvors have a right to recover and keep tresures ,but commieforma will be after any one with the brains and guts to try it
Rusty Ive located a 250$ gps, color sonar ,( I am the king of e bay LOL ) I once bought a entire resturant and building for a dollar …the plan now is to 12 volt 6 hp motor ,single vid cam ( your right Paul ) single arm also and baterys in the rov hull ,but with cat 5 cable(600 ft 5 bucks )to a charger to extend bottom time …fresh research has confirmed my guesses about many safes still out there ,and 2 large ones ,weighing tons …those I can find (I am building a mag )but plenty of lose gold from the drowned passengers lose on the hard bottoms (I am cutting up my new whites gold master pulse induction detector to mount on the rov ( one location is divable ) in short 1/2 thick alloy pipe 24 by 9 inchs (ebay 100$) ,a lot of horse power (fast currents) .I can build this industrial beast for under a grand .Harold I never got the e mail ??..as what I am anout to do is legal but not in the eyes of the state I wish I could say more about the wrecks ( I bet you men know the wrecks allready !)Ive had a run in with the law before (google reynoldchapin) yep I did it …Nike destroyed my home town …I am in great shape at 61 but Ive no wish to spend my last yrs in a supreem court court room…refighting a battle for gold so this is yet to be finished ever ,I prefer to avoid that and know how (1972 ,2am basic training ,the “blues brothers” dragged me outa bed for a 5 hr "chat " . C hristians I n A ction .met them again in Siagon and went to work for them. I dont trust the goverment much ,to obey the laws …Ive been "off the grid for years"I reside in a 35 ft dirt yacht (even this post is not tracable) but Ive got pics on face book,no I dont have the tigers any more . so this is where its at .no work no crab season .two boats on the hard out back 25 and 45 ft sloops a suportive wife and a black lepord in our bed .a show string budget and many ,many sleepless nights .thank you all rey
captainreychapin hot mail
ps merry christmass to all !
Hey its early and I forgot ,on cup #3 now (cat needed food, A very good idea ).
a: training Ive bought a radio shack "armatron toy " to disect and use for a pattern
opps its all mechanical …anazing …but doable for a pattern for the gripper
I need to attach 1/4 inch cables to wood crates ( as a speargunner ) I think a pop out type of spear head system will work .the safe(s) will need a hole punched with a burnnig bar ,then insert a large pop out speartype head into it … as far as the lose gold two sites are divable ( in summer ) .I plan to start dragging the bottom here at this location with a steel bottom drag ,(Ive done this on the Georges bamks for sea scallops ) 2 ton steel dredge baskets ( rocks come up the size of refrigerators) nasty, deadly work.I was a machinist for monsanto corp, then a welder for electric boat ,welding nuke subs in the 80’s .I say this to show Ive got the right back gound to hand fab a industial ROV …but no experence doing so …yet ,Ive got one big shopping list just in toolling ,no shop …and will be all hand built, tig and a vice …Ive finished the legalitys .exactly located two of the three wrecks ,and have a design for the rov…HELP! ( is still open ) its gone from your world of Hi tec, to K.I.S.S and the needed brute force world ( yes I am a programmer) but at sea kiss is better ,Ive spent the last 5 yrs alone living on open sea off SD and MDR ( Todays our 1 yr anniversary of wife and I meeting at LAX ) as a old sea dog ill tell ya shes a bitch out there …I alone survived a sinking 400 miles off cape cod …
Do I need four axis on a arm and gripper ? the plan was up /down only .one prop and sterable fins ,at 300 ft this color sonar wont see single gold bars,or coins …so dextarity is not high on the list ( going inside a hull is ) wood 50 by 200 plus ft long . both big safes are on the bottom alone …all ill need to do is power into the sides of them and burn in …rov hull oprenings …going with a mag drive on the prop thru lexan on the stern ( rare earth magnets) so for now ,one opening is planned ,the one cable in to the hull …or do you think up/down thrusters also ? as Ive never driven a rov your advice is tresured !
and ill ( if /when I recover some )Ill reward any help with a share …the track record to pardners in this biz is awfull …more lawsuits …too many dam lawyers …greed and hate .not what I want for the rest of my life …I want to be home …out on the seas exploring …sailing the world and looking …thank you all
Rey ,Echo and Sailor ( a real crazy sea cat !)
Hi Capn’,
At first glance, I would say that your requirements rate a commercial ROV to be capable of the type of search and recovery that you have described.
The single tube with stern propulsion and diving planes would be great for a search vehicle, but not for recovery where you need maneuverability and stability. This is where a boxy 6 thruster ROV configuration with a gripper would be the way to go. With an onboard IMU to keep it stable, without operator intervention, and vectored thrusters to provide unlimited mobility over a sunken wreck this ROV would be the prefect platform.
Using onboard batteries is going to limit your bottom time unless you plan on building a ROV with multiple WTCs to hold additional batteries. I would suggest that you might want to consider powering the ROV over the tether with 48 vdc and use bucking voltage regulators for efficiency to produce 12 vdc or whatever other voltages you need. You could use a very large brushless ESC top side and send the three phase ac voltage down to an automotive alternator three phase rectifier assembly to produce the required dc voltages.
I am in the process of completing a 6 thruster configuration ROV with two WTCs. One WTC for the Navigation Controller and one WTC for the batteries. The largest LiPos that I could squeeze into the Battery Compartment WTC are a pair of 5000 mah 3S LiPos run in parallel which should give me about an hour of bottom time. Adding a gripper will probably reduce the bottom time slightly depending on how much it is used. I am using a GoPro Hero 3+ in an Eye of Mine waterproof housing with a SD video cable output so the camera is not run by the main batteries. However, this camera configuration is not rated for much over 150 ft. For 300 - 400 ft operation you will probably want to put the camera in a WTC.
Also, it gets pretty cold down in the 300 to 400 ft depths which may impact thruster performance. I would recommend using BR Thrusters with the BlueESCs so that you can monitor thruster performance real time.
I spent 6 years in the USN during the Viet Nam war and served aboard a number of vessels one of which was a FBM named the Daniel Webster (SSBN626). I spent 60 days at Hai Phong harbor on the LPD8 Dubuque sweeping mines out of the harbor at the end of the Viet Nam war.
Regards,
TCIII
DEAR RUSTY …I WILL NEED THURSTERS, BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD !
Dear TCII …welcome home brother ,we gave it our best ,
I got every ones messages and I thank you all…well its not 4 am here …the wifi was down due to gales for the last 10 days non stop …the motor home feels like I’ve been at sea … so I’ve been a shut in, waiting for the sun …still waiting…and waiting … got some good news …Santa came early ! on the two boats I wanted to buy .
Boat : 1 a 25 ft sloop on a trailer (easy to move to wreck sites up and down the cali coast .FREEBEE !! A sister sloop to the one I spent 5 ys living at sea off marina del rey ,this from a old sailor (78 ) I’ve not met face to face yet ! ( he’s coming from LA this Christmas to spent it with us ,as he’s not seen the boats in three years )
a little clean up and she’s ready to go … Now ill sell her in the spring …but wait the best is yet to come …
Boat :2 a deep full keel 35 ft blue water world class sloop …I can live aboard and go any where …
value 30 k …price to me with zero down …3 k … OMG …so santa came early LOL .you might say ive been in shock for a few days … back to the gold… I wish I could say more here . but all my legal issues have been solved
so ya know its not a 3 mile federal offshore limit it’s now 12 miles out 200 for fishing ,I sill wonder how the coastys can go 300 400 mile out and get panga boats drug runners form Mexico ? legally that is …\this wreck is out side of state submerged lands …but not in international waters.
In fact the guys that took the 6 mill back in the day did not have to pay California 2 million ,but did …
( I woke up off marina del rey one morning to see 60 or so bails of weed on the beach that floated right thu our anchorage of 10 “PIRATES” and 100 cops on the beach )(Oh you bet some of the guys were crying LOL ) cops cam out and asked if we had any samples …ah no dam rey slept thru it …let’s hang him !
but California is greedy, and I expect lawsuits … I’ve located the wreck exactly …but with out a mad max rov its to be set aside for now …what I will be after is the debris field first … 1/2 mile by 2 miles long. Including big whisky barrels now worth 30 k each …I don’t smoke or drink .so they are now a target also… The big safe and crates of gold, crates of cash and more safes are still out there waiting ,so close yet so far …
soon I am off to federal court to "arrest the wreck " then search for a underwater archeologist as this project is more than about just treasures …
Rusty, as I’ve got to get the ROV right the first time ,I believe a visit to you in the spring is in order ,I can’t afford to “go back to the drawing board “ if I screw this up ,as this still is a shoestring effort …and in this tiny hick town without a crab season ,my employment is in doubt I ATTACH A PIC OF GOLD THEY TOOK ALLREADY ALMOST 7 MILLION
I wish everyone a safe happy holidays …back at it rey
UPDATE …BAD WI FI FOR A WK WAS “GIVEN “ A 45 SLOOP ROUGH BUT FIXABLE OMG !
WELL IVE A JOB NOW ….
Dear TCII, IVE HAD LITTLE SLEEP IN WEEKS …
I just noticed SSBN626 that woke me up ! she was built at EB and you went to bubble head school there LOL, I live with blue and gold crews in Groton .my wife was the prez of the chamber of commerce and head of the navy leauge ,and how I got to helm the USCG EAGLE THE FULTON , TWO 688’S ONE BOOMER ,ONE AEGIS CRUISER EVEN A SPY SUB I CANT SAY HERE ,LUNCH WITH REGAN AND RICKTOVER … YEP A EX ARMY SARGENT… ITS WHO AND WHAT YOU KNOW…IN THIS CASE A WHO. WHAT CAME LAST YEAR ANCHORED IN SAN DIEGO BAY, WAS WHAT …I HAD A FEW SEALS ON A NIGHT NAV DIVE COME UNDER MY SLOOP …SO I JOINED THEM ,AND YANKED A FEW FINS AND MASKS LOL, THE TRAINER WAS NOT HAPPY … AS A NEW WAR HAS COME TO CALIFORNIA …(S.B.) BE CARE FULL OUT THERE GUYS…MY 45,IS UNDER THE PILLOW REY
Hi Capn’,
Yes, I went to sub school at Groton in early 1971 after completing Nuc School at the Idaho Falls Naval Reactors Facility at the end of 1970. I was in the last graduating class at the Idaho Falls Falls Naval Reactors Facility prior to Rickover’s visit where he really kicked some butt for lax student training and facility operation.
The Escape Tower at Groton was down due to a fire while I was there so I had to make my 50 ft free assent at the Escape Tower at Pearl Harbor. You can see the red and white Pearl Harbor Escape Tower in the movie “Pearl Harbor.”
Regards,
TCIII AVD
DEAR TC III ,I WAS THERE FOR THE FIRE …I HAD A RIVER SIDE APT JUST BEFORE THE MAIN GATE AT EB ,I DON’T NEED TO SEE THE MOVIE AS I RAN A DIVE SHOP THERE ,MY LAST NIGHT WAS A NIGHT DIVE UNDER THAT BIG WHITE THING,IN THE HARBOR WITH MY PALS , LOL
AND A PARTY ON A DESTROYER AT PEARL …THEN WENT TO BOSTON OVER A WOMAN AND SOME JAIL TIME …BECAUSE OF HER …
AS A KID I WINTERED IN FT LAUDERALE AS MY DADS BOATS WERE TOO BIG TO
FOR A LIFT IN MYSTIC …
I USE TO HIT EVERY JOINT ON HOTEL ST AND EVERY ON BANK STREET TOO!
I MANAGED THE GROTON AIRPORT , AND THE EL’RANCHO TOO, ( EL RAUNCH O ) RESTAURANT /BAR ,JUST OFF THE BRIDGE IN GROTON. I HELPED RETURN THE <span class=“st”>SSN-571</span> HOME
WHEN A CREW LEFT …THE BARS FILLED UP …I NEVER WAS SURE WHERE I WOULD WAKE UP NEXT…
WE HAS SAT IN THE SAME BARS AND WALKED THE SAME DOCKS…AMAZING
DON’T FORGET I WAS NEVER IN THE NAVY BUT ARMY (17 YR OLD DUMBASS )
AS IVE GOT THINGS TO SHARE .PLS USE MY REG E MAIL
HOPE MY DIRT YACHT WONT SINK TODAY .IT’S ROCKING AND FLOODING OUT SIDE .
AH I GOT A DINGY ON THE ROOF…
YA, SO CAL AND FT LAUD …NICE AND SUNNY…GGRRRRRR
REY
