This Underwater ROV Project has lots of documentation of a cool work in progress. There are lots of challenges that were faced along the way that may save one of us some time on one of our future projects.
Here are a few videos of the unit in action.
"The ROV submerging technique was originally using part of a bicycle inner tube and a car windscreen washer pump. However this method was very slow to respond and difficult to control and ended up either dropping the ROV like a stone to the bottom or rising to the top. Probably a little worrying having water pumped into the same chamber as the electronics but I tried to make it as reliable as possible and with this in mind I incorporated a leak detection unit which alarms on the GUI and automatically surfaces the ROV. I gave up on this submerging method when pumping water inside caused excessive internal pressure and blew off the end cap on the ROV despite being held in place with two clamps."
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Just a thought on the leakage problem, as I’ve contemplated making one of these myself…
Assuming that the hardware design were final and working well, I’ve wondered about filling the electronics compartment with mineral or vegetable oil as a preventative measure. It would prevent water from entering the compartment, and doesn’t conduct.