Design and Fabrication of an Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (Single Thruster Configuration)

Underwater vehicles are becoming a promising source for ocean exploration, environmental and geochemical surveys, mine hunting, surveillance, and commercial uses. The yearn for underwater vehicles, both autonomous and remotely operated, raised due to cost effectiveness; easy handling and deploying; deep-sea diving; greater maneuverability; and suitability for extreme environments. The aim is to design and test a man portable low-cost, remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) which would be able to conduct surveys in shallow waters. This paper dwells on the design, fabrication, and experimental results of such ROV. It explains, thoroughly, the mechanical design, thruster properties, electrical systems, and software architecture of graphical user interface (GUI) for the described vehicle. The designed ROV is controlled entirely from the base station through a live camera feed and other sensors, as opposed to an autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). Unlike most of the AUVs, it gives live results from its different sensors and receives instructions from the user through two way communication between the user and the vehicle. Weight and portability constraints on the mechanical design; power constraints in electronics; and length constraints on the umbilical cord are addressed comprehensively, and results with solutions are reported. Further improvements are also discussed to improve the paradigm and transform it to a commercial entity.