In this view of the SeaBot ROV you can see the thrusters very clearly. These are made from bilge pump motors. These motors are sold as replacement parts, and are designed to be submerged.
We removed the small impellor from the motors and attached a small RC Plane prop. A screw-on prop adapter was used to attach the 4"x2" prop.
The front of the ROV is to the left, and the forward thrust is to the right of the picture.
You can see that the props have been installed to provide optimum performace in the "normal" direction of thrust. This is "forward" for the two main thrusters and "down" for the vertical thruster.
You can also see that the wires have been strapped to the frame to prevent any catching, and they exit at the rear where they have least impact on the flight of the ROV.
It can be seen that the vertical thruster is located behind the center of the ROV, which does cause the ROV to pitch up when descending. The next version will move this thruster more forward.
