Design and Construction of a ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) Submarine USFQ

A motorized remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) was developed equipped with navigation sensors, vision, and control systems. This platform was the first ROV designed and built in Ecuador, it was carried out at thanks to the support of USFQ robotics laboratory. 
The USFQ ROV has an innovative design using a conical thruster configuration. Two blocks of thruster are installed in the ROV. Each block has three Seabotix BTD – 150 thrusters which are aligned with 60◦ between each thruster. This conical thruster configuration allowed to the ROV five degrees of freedom. The control, data acquisition and the Human Machine Interface (HMI) for the ROV were programmed using the software LabView. LabView allow the steady connection in real time between the control equipment inside the ROV and the laptop and joystick in the surface. The ROV can record audio and video, capture photography’s, data acquisition and in real-time remote control of the platform without interferences or control delays. Open water tests were performed in open waters at Puerto Lopez. The final destination of the submarine is the Galapagos Science Center, GAIAS, located in San Cristobal Island, Galápagos. Where it will be used as a research tool by GAIAS investigators.

Videos:

 Swimming pool tests Videos                                                                               Open water Video ROV USFQ

USFQ news articles:

 En busca de los secretos del mar. July 2 – 2015  http://conexiones.usfq.edu.ec/index.php/339-en-busca-de-los-secretos-del-mar

 Nicolás Soria y Daniel Cabrera, estudiantes Politécnico USFQ, construyen submarino para estudios de ballenas en Galápagos. April 06 – 2011   https://noticias.usfq.edu.ec/2011/04/nicolas-soria-y-daniel-cabrera.html