Introduction
It it time to apply the finishing touches and power on your ROV for the first time!
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Turn the shell upside down so you can remove the protective plastic backing. If you don't have any blue lettering on the inside of your shell, then we already removed it for you.
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Start peeling the backing using a utility knife. The folded corners are a good place to start.
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Use your hands to peel back the rest of the sheet.
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You can clean up melted areas of plastic by gently scratching at them with the utility knife -- the polypropylene doesn't scratch too easily if you're gentle.
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If any of the small holes in the shell still have plastic in them leftover from the laser cutting process, carefully poke them out with a screwdriver or utility knife.
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Place the main chassis into the outer shell, aligning the rectangular attachment holes with the chassis attachment points as shown in image 3. Move the battery tubes facing forward if they aren't already.
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Screw the metal rods onto the M5 316 jam nuts as shown. There should be enough space on each end for the lock nuts on the outside of the shell.
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Place the rod in the appropriate holes on each side of the ROV shell. This rod should be in the holes closest to the back of the ROV.
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Tighten the lock nuts using the wrenches turning in opposite directions. They should only be tightened so the rod is flush with the outside of the locknut.
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Once you have the structure secure and how you like it. Tighten the inside jam nuts with your fingers to secure the shell.
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When complete your structure should fit together well and look like fig 3.
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Attach weights as shown into the two holes on each side of the polypro shell with the M3 8MM plastic screws.
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The two yellow wires coming from the rear of the ROV need to be cut to attach the tether. Cut these two wires close to the handle.
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Place the remaining 1/4" cable wrap onto the tether spool and move it down the tether so we can move it into position after soldering.
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Strip and tin the four wires for the tether (two from ROV and two from the tether spool).
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Place two sections of clear heat shrink tubing down onto the tether wires, and then solder them to the yellow ROV wires.
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Place the heat shrink over the wires and shrink the tubing with the heat gun.
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You should feel good about the connections and the heat shrink tubing during this step. If you are worried about a bad connection, snip the wires and start over.
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Once you feel good about the previous step, attach the tether to the handle as shown with a zip tie. This keeps the tether from getting caught in the propellers.
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Attach the large zip tie to the outermost hole in the handle as shown. Secure the zip tie. This will provide the actual strain relief between the tether and the ROV.
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As mentioned in the last step, depending on where you cut your tether, cable tie this connection to the handle, or wrap in tape thoroughly with the large zip tie.
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Once the large zip tie is securely attached, wrap the tether around the zip tie as shown.
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Using electrical tape, wrap the entire zip tie and tether as shown until the entire zip tie is securely attached to the tether.
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Once the zip tie is completely wrapped in tape from top to bottom, slide the 1/4" cable wrap up the tether to the base of the tie. Secure with more electrical tape or use a heat gun to prevent fraying of the cable wrap. The completed tether relief should look like fig 3.
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Clean each endcap thoroughly, and place the small o-rings on each cap.
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Since the o-ring will make a pretty tight fit with the battery tube, it is recommended that a lubricant be used on the o-ring to assure the o-ring gets seated properly.
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To apply the lubrication to the o-ring, squeeze a small amount of lubrication onto your finger and then move the o-ring through your fingers.
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Tin each positive battery wire and solder onto the positive terminal. The wire should be cut about 4 cm past the edge of the tube and should not get in the way of the closing battery cap.
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When finished it should look like fig 3. Do this for port and starboard battery caps
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This fin provides thrust stability during dives.
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Remove any plastic backing from the polypro fin.
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Attach the fin to the back of the ROV into the two notches on the polypro shell. You may need to remove plastic from the holes in the shell to ensure a proper fit.
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Secure the fin with the 8MM plastic screws and nuts as shown. Pliers may be needed to hold the nut in place. Once in place your thumb can hold it steady while it is screwed from the other side.
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Place the sticker onto the ROV just above the serial number...or anywhere else that looks good to you.
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Insert the batteries into the battery tube, negative side first.
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Place the battery adapters into the battery tube. The gap on the acrylic is meant to accommodate the positive battery wire traveling up the tube.
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Close the front battery end cap. Do this for the other battery tube as well.
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Make sure good contact is made between each cell, the adapters and terminals. Sometimes the wire can get in the way.
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Insert the non-buckled part of the strap through the holes provided in the shell as shown. The straps are designed to hold the battery packs to the ROV as well as secure the battery endcaps.
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Be sure the straps pass below the rear battery wires. The straps should not kink or put undue stress on the wiring.
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Thread the strap through the rear hole in the shell and pull around and we can then attach the fastener, buckle, and ladder lock.
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Thread the strap onto the fastener in the proper fashion so it will secure. There is writing on one side of the fastener, so be sure this is facing away when securing the fastener.
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The ladder lock (fig 3 right) is used to keep the straps from flying around loosely. Be sure and thread this onto the strap in the right spot when threading through the shell.
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Adjust the strap so it makes a tight fit between the shell and the battery packs. A perfect fit means the caps fit flush against the battery tubes.
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Find the other end of the tether and unravel a couple of feet for slack. Strip the ends.
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Attach the tether ends to the topside box. pull towards the middle of the box on the orange tabs and slide in the tether ends.
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At this point also connect the DB-25 connector to the electronics chassis.
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Plug in the other side of ethernet and USB cables to your laptop and watch your ROV power on!
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This is where things start getting exciting! We're going to connect to the ROV for the first time. You will need to be sure not to forget to plug the DB25 connector into the controller board.
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Windows Vista: go to control panel -> network and sharing center -> click on "manage network connections" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "local area network" -> l-click on properties -> l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" -> l-click on "properties" and select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.
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Windows 7: go to control panel > network and internet > network and sharing center > click on "change adapter settings" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "local area connection" > properties > l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" and click on properties. Select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.
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Windows 8: go to control panel > network and internet > network and sharing center > click on "change adapter settings" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "Ethernet" > properties > l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" and click on properties. Select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.
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OS X (Mac): Open System Preferences, click Network. Select "Edit Locations" from the Location drop down. Click the (+) and create a new location called "OpenROV". Select your ethernet adapter on the left and select Manually from the "Configure IPv4" drop down. Set the IP address to 192.168.254.2 and subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. Press Apply.
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Open Google Chrome web-browser. If you do not have the latest version of Google Chrome, you can go here to get it.
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In the status bar at the top, type 192.168.254.1:8080, which is the IP address of the ROV. Press 'enter' and cross your fingers. Soon the OpenROV Cockpit should appear. It may take 10-20 seconds for the page to finish loading.
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Chances are that when you unscrewed the silver camera shroud to fit the camera into the chassis, the camera became severely unfocused. If you bring up the cockpit and it is blurry, turn the camera lens clockwise while it is still in the e-chassis until you are satisfied with the picture quality.
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Before calibration if your lasers look like figure 1, they will require focusing.
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Turn on the lasers by pressing "L" on your keyboard.
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Twist the front part of the laser as shown in figure 3 to focus the beam.
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With some trial and error you should be able to adjust the laser focus to get the result shown in figure 3.
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Create a "Laser Calibration Station" (Piece of paper with two X's that are 10cm apart in a straight line).
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Place the electronics assembly on top of the starboard endcap (the one with no wires). This will give the e-chassis a flat level spot for calibration.
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Tape or secure the e-chassis to the endcap and table so it won't move around during calibration. See Fig 3.
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With cockpit running press "L" to engage lasers. You can also click on the "laser triangle" icon.
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Take a measurement from the floor to the approximate location of the bottom laser. Note this measurement.
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Place your calibration sheet 3-4 meters away from your e-chassis lasers and place the bottom X on sheet the at the same measurement as the bottom laser from the previous step. This will make the whole process a bit easier.
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Now when placing the laser it will be "aimed" at the calibration sheet.
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Once the laser is placed in the hole, you will see that is has some play. Apply minimal super glue to the inside of the laser hole. Apply a small amount of super glue to the opposite side of the laser and place in the hole.
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The trick here is to align the laser with the bottom X on the calibration sheet while the super glue is drying (about 1 minute). When you let go of the laser it should stay aligned with the X. Let this dry and repeat for the top laser.
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When gluing the lasers make sure that they do not protrude past the acrylic or they will rub on the inside of the electronics tube.
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When finished the lasers should dry in the electronics chassis as shown in fig 3. When completely cured (see instructions for super glue), your lasers are calibrated.
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Test to see if the propellers are rotating in the correct direction. On cockpit, hit the up arrow while looking at your motors to see which direction they are spinning. Starboard should be running clockwise, Port should be running counter-clockwise.
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For the Vertical Prop, when hitting the Ctrl button, it should be rotating counter-clockwise.
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To reverse a motor, click the "diagnostics" tab on the top right. Select the "reverse" box for the motor that needs to be switched.
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Unplug the DB-25 connector.
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Make sure the main tube is clean.
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Check that the o-ring are clean and lubricated and place them on both the endcaps.
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Align the E-Chassis as shown in Fig 1. Plug the DB-25 back into the controller board. Be sure all of your wires are tucked away and there is nothing obscuring a smooth slide down of the tube.
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Slide the tube down the electronics chassis and onto the endcap.
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Place the other endcap on the other side of the tube. It should mirror the other endcap.
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Thread the strap through the holes provided on the side of the shell. The strap should fit over the top of the wire bundle and be clear of the wire bundle.
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Thread through the other side of the shell creating a "loop" to insert the e-tube into.
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Attach the fastener loosely so the e-tube will fit into the shell. The straps should go in the notches designed in the endcaps for a secure fit. See fig 3.
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If you bought a IMU/Depth Sensor, go to the guide How to Assemble the IMU/Depth Sensor.
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Amazing! You should now have a complete OpenROV version 2.7!
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Head over to the operator's manual for further instructions on how to drive and maintain your OpenROV.
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On behalf of the OpenROV team and community at large, we are happy to have you with us. See you on the forums, OpenExplorer, and wherever your adventures take you.
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6 Comments
First of all I would like to say what a great kit this was to put together. The tolerances where very tight and accurate. The whole process went smoothly. The only misstep I took was aligning and cementing the Lasers. After spending some time aligning them and gluing in place, I discovered I had let them protrude too far and they rubbed on the cylinder wall. I should have paid closer attention to the photo. It may be prudent to add a line of warning to others. I destroyed the laser freeing it from the super glue but fortunately they are inexpensive and I just have to wait for the end of Chinese New Year!
Thank you for the kind words. We are extremely happy that you had a smooth build. Thank you for the comment, we have updated the directions to help others. If you have any issue with sourcing the lasers feel free to email us and we can get some shipped to you. https://openrov.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/req... -Brian G.
Almost there! I have a problem getting the end caps of the battery tubes to seat properly. I can't get enough tension on the nylon straps. One side keeps limiting electrical contact and power to the electronics. I see one of the action photos with fish around that what looks like elastic bands have been used 90 degrees to the nylon straps to keep the end tubes fixed. I have checked wiring, clearances etc. and everything looks good inside the tubes (those springs are stiff!. Any suggestions?
On another point. I can't get the lasers to calibrate on the horizon bar on the screen, which I assume is the intent. I can modify the laser holes or fit some wedge on the camera chassis. Has this been a problem before? Incidentally I am thinking of calibrating the lasers to converge at about 2.0M so as to be used as a rangefinder, at least they will have more purpose.
Crouchie
Hello, these sound like great topics for the forum (https://forum.openrov.com) in order to see what other people in the community have done. -Brian G.
Great build! This was my first build of anything this complex and other than a few minor bumps (which were expertly handled, if I do say so myself) everything went very smoothly. The guide is an incredible resource. The only problem I had was with my light board. I can't get my lasers or LEDs to turn on. I've checked the solder and everything looks good. I had such a sense of accomplishment from building the kit that I might not even mess with the lasers or lights for a while and just stricly fly during the daytime in clear water. Thanks OpenROV!