We are currently working on design for a drop cam system, that will be hand held by a diver or hard mounted to provide a live video feed to the surface for a project.
Plan is to use the BR housing, tether, HD low light cam, Pi, Fathom-X to handle the core components and transmission to the surface.
Since this is not a full ROV we won’t be using a Pixhawk or QGroundControl.
Was thinking of using one of the various Pi security cam images as a starting point to handle the video portion.
Ideally we would have ability to transmit the live feed to a single computer or broadcast as well on an internal LAN or possibly over Internet as well, with viewing via a browser. Also would like capability to record the feed as well.
Figured I’d reach out to the folks here to see if anyone has already done something similar that could provide some feedback or suggestions on software or related elements so we don;t reinvent the wheel.
Any thoughts/feedback would be appreciated.
We will also share our project here as it moves along as well.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good POE (power over Ethernet) module?
If we end up just having the Pi and camera on the wet end I’m thinking POE might be simple solution to power the system and also it to remain sealed.
We haven’t done much with PoE, but you can send power in parallel with the Fathom-X boards if you are interested. For instance, you can have a two-wire tether to the camera and connect those two wires to the Fathom-X terminal as well as the 12v power. That would allow you to accomplish the same thing but with a smaller cable.
We don’t have any official published capabilities for carrying power through the lines, but we have used it fairly often. The boards can be connected in parallel with the power. I can make a quick wiring diagram if you want.
The Fathom-E should support PoE fine but we haven’t tested it. It’s really simple - just a wiring PCB basically.
I am interested in making something similar. Would you mind giving us an update on your project progress?
Does Bluerobotics plan to do something similar?
I have been using a BlueROV2 for a few months now and would love to have a dropdown camera for drifting/towing applications. Ideally the camera which would be built using similar products as BlueROV2 and also would use a Fathom or Fathom SLIM tether so that the dropdown camera cable could be used as a backup for the ROV.
I unearth this ancient post hoping that someone very kind can help me. I state that unfortunately I understand very little about electricity and electronics. My English is also poor, but I cook fairly well.
I understand that by using a pair of Fathom-x at the two ends of a two-wire cable it is possible to receive the images taken by an ip camera and power it at the same time. If correct, could someone very nice to post a very simple drawing for true ignoramuses from which I can figure out how to make the connections? Again: do the two wires have to be twisted? If so, can I use the fathom ROV Tether sold by BlueRobotics? If so, with the other 3 pairs of twisted cables is it possible to think about powering and controlling a Lumen Subsea Light? If so, what should be the DC power supply voltage for a 150m long tether?
Many thanks and sorry if the questions were to be very stupid. I’m sure you will only give me clever answers.