OpenROV could open up the world of underwater exploration
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OpenROV is an underwater remote-operated vehicle that will be available in a kit or fully-assembled, for use by anyone with an interest in exploring the deep
OpenROV should be available in a kit, or fully-assembled
A central sealed clear acrylic tube houses OpenROV's web camera, LED headlamps, and other electronics that need to be kept dry
OpenROV measures just 30 x 20 x 15 centimeters (11.8 x 7.8 x 5.9 inches), weighs 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lbs), and runs on eight C-cell batteries
Underwater illumination is provided by two LEDs
The kit should contain everything needed to assemble an OpenROV within one weekend
Two horizontal thrusters allow the ROV to move forward, backward, and to rotate, while a vertical thruster is used to change depth
Underwater remote-operated vehicles, or ROVs, are almost impossibly fascinating. They’re controlled by a surface-based operator, who watches their real-time video feed and pilots them via a long umbilical cable. Although the big-league multi-million-dollar ROVs are used for things such as exploring the wreck of the Titanic or studying hydrothermal vents, hobbyists have quite a bit of fun using their own home-built versions just to see what’s under the surface of the local lake. Unfortunately, even to build one yourself, you need to be pretty technically skilled. That could change, however, as the OpenROV project is developing “easy to assemble” kits – it may even provide li’l ROVs that are ready to go, right out of the box.
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