Garrett Engineering And Robotics Society

The Deep Creek Explorer (DCX) is an Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).

I'm coordinating the project, and working with a bunch of kids to get share ideas, demonstrate the physics of underwater robots and train up some ROV pilots.

I've been working the remote control aspect of the DCX. Previous ROV's that the kids have made used dedicated wires to control each motor. One pair of wire for each motor, and then another wire for video starts to get messy.

With the DCX I wanted to use the same approach that we use on REAL ROVs. That means adding some electronics to the ROV that can take commands from the pilot and control the motors locally. So now you just need to send one power cable to the ROV plus a data line.

I built a small controller board (pic link below) able to drive 4 motors and then potted it in clear epoxy. The board plugs into each motor and can produce 9 forward and 9 backward speeds for fine control.

This YouTube video shows the DCX running in the GEARS tank for the first time. Not bad for one handed driving and filming :)

Phil.