The OpenROV Project

In July 2012 BC Robotics began assembling an OpenROV. For those not familiar with the OpenROV concept; The OpenROV is an open source remote control submarine roughly the size of a shoebox. With the majority of our oceans unexplored and most ROVs costing well in excess of $100,000 USD Eric Stackpole and David Lang set out to unleash this concept on the world and give everyday explorers the ability to send HD cameras into the depths. In mid 2012 the OpenROV concept was placed on Kickstarter to generate both funding for further development and to generate interest in the project – it immediately exploded in popularity.

The Assembly

BC Robotics stumbled upon the OpenROV project just as the Kickstarter campaign was drawing to a close. Being on an island and surrounded by some of the best dive sites in the North Pacific the project immediately appealed to us! The idea that we could have our very own open source ROV for less than $1000.00 was just too good to pass up. We downloaded the plans and the bill of materials and set to work.

The structure of the ROV is made from laser cut acrylic sheets and a clear acrylic tube. We simply downloaded the plans and sent them off to our local laser cutter and were able to jump into assembly within 24 hours.

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Main Laser Cut Sheet
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Frame of the OpenROV
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Partially Assembled
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Camera and LEDs Fitted
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Many of the OpenROV’s drive components are actually used in remote controlled vehicles and fairly easy to obtain. Three brushless motors fitted with ducted fans control the elevation, rotation, and speed of the ROV. These are driven with bi directional motor controllers that are typically found in remote control cars.

Originally we set out to build a carbon copy of the prototype, but as the build went on we began adapting the project to suit our specific goals. The structure and propulsion of the ROV remained the same but the entire electronics assembly was completely custom built.

Some of the key differences:

• The video was no longer processed onboard the ROV, instead we piped the USB webcam directly to the laptop on the surface. This allowed us to record both video and still images and post them in real time to the web.
• The onboard systems were simplified to be a single Arduino. This device received instructions from a keyboard, gamepad, joystick, or autopilot software running from the laptop on the surface.
• The batteries were removed and the entire system powered over the tether. This allowed for unlimited dive times.

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First picture from the onboard camera
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Lights On
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The main prop assembly
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Programming the motor controllers
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To The Real World

After many bathtub tests the ROV set out for its maiden dive in the cold clear waters of the Pacific Northwest in mid August. Unfortunately there were a few hiccups in the system and we ended up only capturing a single image from the bottom at around 15′ in depth. Water also began leaking in slowly and we called it for the evening.

4 Weeks later with many hours of repair, redesign, and testing completed we headed out once again. All systems were checked over on deck, the tether was set out, and away she went. After the propulsion troubles on the first dive we never really did get a chance to see how she handled. A good hour of driving around near the surface and it seemed everything was a go for a dive. Initially we were so thrilled with the ROV after so many hours of work… we forgot to hit record on the ROV camera feed…. eventually we remembered and filmed a few short sequences; first in the 30 – 40′ range looking around in the giant boulders:

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Starfish and other sea life
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Stuck between boulders
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Reversing back up to the surface – more sea life!
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Still image posted live to the internet from the ROV
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Eventually we did hit 50′ but again, a water leak forced the ROV to the surface. After many hours of testing it was determined the cable jacket was damaged allowing water to seep into the ROV. The weather began to turn for the year and the ROV was shelved until spring.

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2013 Season

With last year’s experience we have set out once again on our ROV project. Over the winter it was decided to branch away from the OpenROV even further and develop a new housing for the Electronics.

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