Not trying to provoke or troll. I want to add a bluerov to my fifish drone, due to the fact that the latter is giving me grief, and is difficult to repair and fix. That being said the one thing it has going for it, is out of the box usability. I can change batteries on the fly, I just need to add the tethercable to the ROV and I am ready. The Bluerov seems to be a bit of a hazzle. The batteries in a special container, the tether cable is permanently connected ?? there is a topside box + laptop etc. for that reason I would love to know how it is to “live with a bluerov”. is it a hazzle to get ready, changing batteries, lugging gear etc ? I can surely see the benefits of the bluerov system, but how about the downsides when it comes to ease of deployment and use ?
Hi @JakobHK -
It’s true that the BlueROV2 is not as conveinent a platform to use as fifish or other similar ROVs - I find these to be aimed at general consumers, who generally don’t have much technical ability, or very stringent performance requirements. As a result, while easy to get started with, they are often lacking in the performance necessary to do serious work - at great depths, pulling great lengths of tether. When they break, the proprietary designs are not user repairable as you mention.
The BlueROV2 is a “hassle” in that you do need to use a laptop (or something like a steamdeck) to control it - this is because it uses free and open-source ground control station software (Cockpit.) It also comes as a kit that you need to assemble - therefore a lot more work is necessary before you’re diving, but the benefit of this is that you know your system inside and out, and future repairs or modifications are easy to DIY.
The separate battery chamber is done to enable the use of a very large battery pack, roughly 5x the size of the smallest fifish battery. The more powerful thrusters demand it, and you get a stronger ROV with more endurance as a result.
I agree that the current standard semi-permanent attachment of the tether is a pain! While it is possible to remove for travel, it is a hassle to re-attach in the current iteration. However, stay tuned - by the end of the year the WetLink Connector should make that issue a thing of the past!
The BlueROV2 is targeted at more professional applications, and professional tools will always be “more hassle” in my opinion, as they are capable of so much more! Strapping a random sensor to a fifish, connecting it to the control electronics and modifying the open-source software to communicate with it just simply isn’t possible - on a BlueROV2 this is an afternoon of tinkering!
Hope that’s useful feedback!