Design and Construction of an ROV for Underwater Exploration.

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Automation
• Oceanographic Technology
• Computer Engineering

Background:

• Divers are limited to 30m depth, restricting underwater exploration and operations.
• Existing underwater vehicles may lack real-time video capabilities or sufficient depth reach.
• Simultaneous control of motion, sensing, and video capture presents a computational challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a cost-effective Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for real-time underwater video capture.
• To achieve stable underwater navigation and precise motion control for enhanced data acquisition.
• To extend underwater operational depth beyond human diver limitations.

Main Methods:

• The ROV utilizes six brushless motors with a Proportional + Integral + Derivative (PID) controller and pulse-wide modulation for stable motion control.
• A Raspberry Pi 3 with a threading library enables simultaneous motion control, 3D positioning, temperature sensing, and video capture.
• Real-time video is captured at 800x640 resolution, processed at up to 42 frames per second.
• A Python-based graphical user interface (GUI) facilitates remote operation across multiple operating systems.

Main Results:

• The ROV achieved stable translational, ascent/descent, and rotational movements on three axes.
• Simultaneous data processing and video capture were successfully implemented using multi-core parallel computing.
• Experimental results demonstrated video capture rates of up to 42 frames per second.
• The ROV is capable of operating at depths up to 100 meters.

Conclusions:

• The designed ROV effectively captures high-quality underwater video in real-time up to 100m depth.
• The integrated system provides stable motion control and simultaneous data acquisition, overcoming diver limitations.
• This ROV offers a versatile platform for various underwater applications including surveillance, maintenance, and scientific measurement.