The Ferret : a 3D printed ROV

Build
1

I wanted to do it for a while …

Making a 3D printed ROV !

Making a “cage” type ROV is (relatively) easy, but as soon as you want to make a streamlined machine, the difficulty (and the price!) Increases rapidly. So the idea had been running through my head for a while: making a small ROV with 3D printed fairings.

The opportunity was given to me when a customer asked me if I could perform an inspection in a DN600 pipe (60cm internal diameter ), accessible only through a valve stuck in 2/3 closed position. (less than 20cm of passage …)

Thus was born the “Furet” project! (Ferret, in english )

Below, the valve i talked about, seen from inside the pipeline, on the ROV way back . In the background we can see the cage allowing the ROV to be lowered and raised in the water system.

camera_1621499646644
camera_16214996466441920×1080 269 KB

The ROV is build around a 4" waterproof enclosure. All the electronics, as well as a specially designed battery, fit into it. On thrusters side, 4 heavily modified T200 thrusters (removal of the nozzle and mounts, reduction of propellers diameter, etc.) are integrated into the 3D printed hull.

furet_v1_#2
furet_v1_#21280×846 155 KB

While not so bad, the first tests revealed some balancing and behavior problems. This is one of the main difficulties with this kind of very compact machine: integrating everything while ensuring good weight balancing.

After some modifications, including a little lengthening of the set, the tests were conclusive, and the baby was allowed to go on an adventure …

furet_v1#1
furet_v1#11543×831 165 KB

4 Likes
2

Cool project @luc-rossi!

Do you have good tools for dealing with this kind of thing? I’m considering making a design/analysis tool for determining center of mass and buoyancy, to make it easier to test different configurations and check their balance. Down the track it could be possible to integrate a solver which returns where to add ballast or buoyancy foam to better balance the device - interesting thoughts.

3

Hi @EliotBR
At this time i just use a simple spreadsheet form. But since it take a long time to input all parameters ( weight, volume, positions of CoM an CoB ) for each part, i only setup the most significants…

And, of course, when testing I realize that not all of the parts i overlooked were that trivial ! :roll_eyes:
( I’m talking about : connectors, wiring, bolt, nuts, … )
So i think the main problem is my laziness ! ( or lack of time !? )

Anyway, of course, a good software tools could be a nice improvement. I think the key feature is concerning data input. ( the time consuming part ! )
A software with a shared database of common objets ( Blue robotics parts at first ! ) could be a nice idea.

3 Likes