Over the past two weeks the research stage has been slowly transitioning into the build stage. I now have a better idea of how the system will function as a whole, though there are still many smaller details have have yet to be decided on.
Hull
I was originally going to try to build an aluminum waterproof hull for KARR, however I have been doubting how reliable that will be, given the techniques at my disposal. Fortunately I found a supplier of waterproof hull kits specifically designed for rovs. Blue Robotics is a fairly new company (started in 2014) that sells an assortment of ROV parts. Their selection is currently small, as they mainly sell thrusters and waterproof hull components, but hopefully it will expand in the future. They currently have two options for waterproof hulls: a 2″ diameter kit and a 4″ diameter kit. Each kit comes with an acrylic tube, two o-ring flanges with o-rings, two end-caps (they have several types to choose from) and a vent-plug. The components that come with the hull kit can also be purchased individually. Overall it looks like a very nice system. They also sell cable penetrators that can be used with the hull kit. With the kit, spare o-rings, cable penetrators, and shipping the total cost came out to be $236, which is a bit pricey, though much better that several hundred dollars worth of water damaged electronics (assuming the hull-kit works properly and I don’t do something stupid).
Frame
I spent the evening today working on the frame. So far it is coming together nicely. The design has changed somewhat, though the overall shape is mostly the same. The upper layer is salvaged from a previous rov, while everything else is new.
The top part of the frame along with the thrusters will be used for KARR. I also almost finished assembling the lower portion of the frame today; I am just waiting for some super-glue to dry so I can finish drilling out holes for the rivets.
ROV Adventures 