From our friends at the Coastal Observing Research and Development Center at UC San Diego, an APM-based ocean-going kayak! (it uses a variation of the ArduRover code)
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From our friends at the Coastal Observing Research and Development Center at UC San Diego, an APM-based ocean-going kayak! (it uses a variation of the ArduRover code)
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Comments
Good use of prefab-ed hulls :)
Like ours (somewhat cheaper, aka in the spirit of Makers):
@Rustom,
Nice thruster and project. I recently looked of the Univ. of Florida's (my alma mater) PropaGator entry in the Roboboat competition. They designed their own hubless pod drive. Interesting, but perhaps too complex. I really like your design, especially as a deep water drive. So when can I buy a pair?!
@Gary,
I got the pontoons from Tower Hobbies and they were only $99 plus free shipping.
I plan to use skid (differential) steering to be able to validate Pixhawk skid steering firmware updates::-)
Regards,
TCIII ArduRover2 Developer
Hi Tom,
Your pontoon catamaran approach seems like a great solution and using the Fiberglass floats is a great idea.
Are you planning on using rudders or just differential propulsion for steering control?
The fiberglass version of those floats is harder to find than the Balsa kits.
I had already also found commercial deep water thrusters were prohibitively (to put it mildly) expensive as well, but I am very happy to see the ones Rusty is working on potentially being available soon, they look like an excellent solution.
Best,
Gary
Pablo Escobar approves ;-)
Ceramic bearings would be a good solution wouldn't they?
@Gary,
I have investigated the sealed, deep water thrusters and have found, due to the cost of commercial versions, that most hobbyists build their own: Homebuilt ROVs
Regards,
TCIII ArduRover2 Developer
@Trung,
The pontoons are 38" (~1m) in length and are made of fiberglass. I chose this configuration because it has less of a tendency to roll unlike the single kayak configuration.
The props from the Villain are 1.75" in diameter and are driven by a geared, brushed motor propulsion system so they should work fine if I keep the weight down.
Regards,
TCIII ArduRover2 Developer
Now, I read your press release;-)
I like this part of release; "A plastic framework integrated with a brushless electric motor enables the thruster to operate continuously for months at a time, navigate into deep waters and resist the corrosive nature of ocean saltwater."
Jiro: The thruster can go very deep. There's no enclosed air or oil filled cavities so there's nothing to compress besides the material itself. We haven't tested the extremes so we don't know for sure yet.
Monkeynutz: We've been using the AfroESC from HobbyKing. It's an open-firmware ESC that can be reprogrammed for forward/backward rotation. The thruster will work with any ESC rated above 12 Amps.
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