I previously posted here on the subject of controlling a fast miniwinch to maintain the altitude of an underwater camera while tethered to a buoy that is bouncing on the waves at the surface.
I got a lot of good responses and PM’s on the topic, however ultimately I ended up attempting a passive approach because of both the complexity of an active system and the real concern about spending a lot of the limited battery power available continuously operating the winch motor.
So… I ended up with what started out I think as a pretty elegant solution in the form of a very small constant force spring which is concentric with the winch spindle. The end result is that my camera is free to bounce smoothly on its tether at any time.
The thing is that I’m rethinking the physics behind it all now (I don’t live near an ocean or wave pool). I’m thinking that the core idea relies on a bit of a more rapid delta force than a smoothly undulating ocean wave would provide. At this point I’m thinking of just throwing the whole notion out the window and accepting that my camera is just going to undulate along with the waves somewhat.
If I was better versed in motion dynamics or ocean physics I would feel more confident here but I’m back here in the hopes that someone will have some additional useful feedback. Anyway thanks in advance for any thoughts on the matter!
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