Seafox ROV

Construction

Frame

The frame of the Seafox is constructed from 15mm (0.6in) PVC pressure pipe, tees and elbows. It is glued together with PVC cement. The outside dimensions of the ROV are 330x330x180mm (13x13x7.1in). Attached to the bottom of the frame is a plastic grid to which the thrusters are mounted. Zip ties are used to attach the grid and thrusters.

Thruster layout

There are 6 thrusters used to control the ROV in the following directions: Forward, Reverse, Left, Right, Up and Down. Some of the thrusters can be seen in the picture to the left. The thruster on the far right is the forward direction thruster. The thruster lying on its side in the middle is the down thruster used to dive. The thruster on the left that appears to be upside down is the right turn thruster.

In the picture to the right we can see the left turn thruster on the far right. The thruster in the centre directs its thrust downwards to make the ROV rise, the thrust is re-directed by attaching a piece of PVC pipe to its nozzle. This curves downwards and is why the yellow box can be seen sitting up somewhat to allow clearance. Again, the thruster on the left is the forward thruster.

Electronics enclosure

The electronics box used is made by otter from high-impact polycarbonate plastic. It is sealed with a neoprene o-ring and is called an otter box. Inside the otter box is microcontroller 2 and the switching electronics. Two bulkhead connectors are used to allow the wiring to pass into the otter box whilst keeping out the water.

The picture to the right shows the two different bulkhead connector plugs used. The one on the left is manufactured by Subconn®, it is connected to the end of the tether, it supplies the ROV with power and communications from microcontroller 1. The second connector is manufactured by Impulse, it connects the switching electronics to the thrusters, the sockets for these plugs are located on the back of the otter box. You may notice that this connector has only 9 pins but that there are 12 wires from the 6 thrusters. The 6 ground wires from the thrusters are connected to 6 of the pins, while the other 6 positive thruster wires are connected in pairs to the remaining 3 pins.

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Site created by Curtis Schur, last updated 27/10/04