Was wondering if it’s possible for the BlueROV2 to be modified so it sails straight horizontally? A friend of mine owns the VideoRay 4Pro and he’s got to zig-zag when he wants to inspect something (like the side of a ship/vessel) horizontally, which is a bit of a pain.
I guess the BlueROV2 isnt much different in this aspect? (Like zig-zagging), since I guess not many uses this feature and only films forward and backwards and not sailing straight sideways.
BONUS question: How “open” is the VideoRay for adding “DIY” stuff to the system? I’m guessing it’s a pretty closed system for users who just wants something that plug n’ plays, and not modify it in any way, where the BlueROV2 is more my kind of thing (IT/Electronics guy @ the University). What do you think? Seems the VideoRay forums are a bit dead, so a bit hard to find answers. Of course the price tag on VideoRay accessories is quite high, which is the reason he asked me if we should try making/adding something of our own, at own risk of course.
I guess the closest you can get to add extra features (like side thrusters) to the VideoRay is by adding a parallel cable all the way to the ROV, which would power your own homemade system (I personally love using Arduino / Raspberry systems for my projects).
The Blue ROV2 can in fact strafe straight sideways. The vectored thrust layout means that it can move equally well in any XY vector.
That being said, it is absolutely possible to change the thruster layout or modify anything else in the software or hardware of the BlueROV2, its an open platform and we encourage user modification! Anything is possible, you could modify the BlueROV2 to toast bread if you wanted to, it just depends on how much work you are willing to do.
I can’t speak much to the modifiability/openness of the Videoray platform, but as far as I know it is a traditional closed platform where you can only officially plug in accessories sold/approved by Videoray.
Thanks for the reply! The BlueROV2 seems so awesome.
Do you know if theres any plans in the future to add 60 FPS camera? I’m the duo-partner i an huge EU project for our University, where we are building a Live-Video fish filming system on the fishing vessels trawls, and we are using a Samsung Techwin CCTV camera for prototyping, sending 1080p60 H.265 video at a bitrate about 6k and 250V DC, through 750 meter steel coax cable, and getting used to 60FPS is just so sweet in OBS studio or VLC.
Another bonus question while I have your attention:
Do you know if the BlueROV2 somehow can support a sensor for measuring metal thickness? I know this device exists but its supported on the VideoRay:
We are always on the lookout for new cameras and hope to add better options in the future, but we have no specific plans right now. Any USB camera should be compatible with the BlueROV2 (Companion + QGC) as long as it is UVC and H.264 capable.
If you are asking if the BlueROV has plug and play compatibility with a Cygnus thickness gauge, the answer is no, we have not done any software integration work.
If you are asking if it is possible to modify the BlueROV2 hardware/software to integrate it, the answer is absolutely. All our ROV software is open source, so you can modify and add support for other devices to your hearts content. It looks like It has an RS-422 link, so you could also skip the software integration, and just run it separately in parallel along the same tether to its own software on the topside. With this method there would be no software work as it would be running completely independently from the BlueROV2, other than being mounted on it.
Anything is possible, you could modify the BlueROV2 to toast bread if you wanted to, it just depends on how much work you are willing to do.