Remotely Operated Vehicle Test in Lake

Today, I tested a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in a local lake.  So this post is going to be something different for RobotNext.  I recommend this project for anyone who wants to try out an underwater robot. Technically speaking, this is not a robot as such.  It is a remotely operated vehicle controlled by a tether to a control box and power on the surface.  This vehicle was constructed in less than two days in a total of about twelve hours.  Using the ROV in a Box from !nventivity, our teachers’ group at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas built three of these machines.  All I can say is that it was a blast.  

In the video taken from my phone, you can see the robot powering around and then diving under the water.  There will be more testing of these ROVs in weeks to come.  Also, look at the photos of my ROV on the edge of the water.  Not bad for a two day effort. 

Video Credit:  Mike Henry

Here is a photo of the ROV on the edge of the lake.  Note the blue pool noodles used as flotation devices to keep the robot at neutral buoyancy.

Mike's Phone 169

Photo Credit:  Mike Henry

Note the black cylinder object at the back of the ROV.  That is a color camera and below it is a 10 led light to illuminate features in the water.  Images can be seen on a television screen.  The three motors have propellers and give power and control in 3 directions.

Mike's Phone 170

Photo Credit:  Mike Henry

High-Tech Robot To Aid Nature Conservancy

KPBS has this story about an advanced remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) that will be used by the Nature Conservancy to explore the ocean near the California coast.  The purpose of using this undersea robot is to reach areas of the marine environment that is not accessible to human divers because of the depth.  Mainly, this is an area of canyons and reefs in the Channel Islands Marine Protected Areas.  The 500 pound machine essentially flies over the ocean floor taking high resolution video and photographs of deep marine life.  One other thing, the Nature Conservancy is having an online naming contest for the robot.  The contest ends on August 31,2009.  If you submit a name, post it here in a comment.  Let us know what you submitted as a choice for this robot’s name.  RobotNext has no part in the contest except as an interested party in seeing if any readers participate in naming this bot.

High-Tech ROV

Photo by Nancy Crowley / The Nature Conservancy

High-Tech Robot Explores Waters Off California
KPBS
An environmental group is using an underwater robot for ocean research off the California coast. The high-tech tool will explore areas beyond

High-Tech Robot Explores Waters Off California – KPBS
Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:12:30 GMT

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