Hi Harold
I enjoy your humor, am impressed by your obvious knowledge and experience in this (AUV/ROV) and the electronics field and am encouraged by your willingness to assist me with my project. Thank you!
Yes, the wing does seem big but will definitely change now that I have settled on the Bluerobotics thrusters. I have looked at many different propulsion options from Tecnadyne (very expensive), Crustcrawler (less expensive), Trolling motors (powerful but too heavy and require lots of battery power) to modified Bilge pumps (2000gph Rule - a makeshift solution that I am not comfortable with).
The smaller wingspan will have two hand grips that will contain the ON/OFF switch in one and the Speed Control (deadmans switch style) in the other. Tilting both the handles up would point the nose of the wing down and visa versa. One handle up and the other down will send the wing in one sideways direction and the reverse action would send the wing in the other sideways direction. Think flaps, like an aeroplane.
The wing is a sealed shape, with internal struts covered by an aluminum skin along the lines of a normal aircraft wing. The leading edge will be curved, with the trailing edge tapering to the joining of the upper and lower aluminum skin. I anticipate having a watertight section in the centre/middle of the wing which will contain the battery, the controller and any other electronic components that are required. To counteract the weight of the thrusters, battery and other components I was considering injecting a buoyancy foam to give me the correct amount of positive bouyancy without compromising the dive capability/performance of the thrusters.
The wing will almost always operate close to shore in shallow waters (3m - snorkelers - 20m Scuba diver). My daughter is an accomplished swimmer (she owns her own swimming school) and Scuba Diver with night diving, wreck diving, rescue and a few other courses to her credit. Her husband is a qualified PADI Dive instructor with a number of courses to his credit. They will be my test pilots to put the wing through its paces.
Safety of the user is always a priority as the sea can be unpredictable and unforgiving with currents, winds, sealife, etc. ET will enable me to provide an extra margin of safety and confidence to recover, not only the user, but the wing as well in the event of a calamity. I would like to be able to track the whereabouts of the wing when it is on the surface through an internet connected laptop. Is that possible? I would assume so after reading your 757labs.org adventure.
Your balloon project is awesome! Which one of the two guys retrieving the balloon are you? One of the sections that caught my attention, altho’ they were all interesting, was the one about the battery. This is my concern as I would like the battery in the wing to run the two thrusters for an absolute minimum of 75 minutes (on full power if possible).
The content of certain comments you made may be relative to my project?
Your comments : This battery is capable of operating with a constant current discharge rate (my requirement?) over 1 Ampere for over 3 hours (nice extended time) at a final voltage output of 1.0 Volts. The idea was to be able to survive a high current drain (my problem too?) and maintain a total power pack voltage level above the projected Volt value (YES - required by the T-200’s) . This would ensure that we were able to provide a stable voltage source to all components (sounds good). The power for the camera was modified to run multiple twin cell packs in parallel to prolong the voltage level (this may be necessary for my wing?).
Thank you for your offer to help design the circuitry to make this work. I am super excited about the support you are providing and the possibility of making this dream happen.
Have a great day.
Darryl