How Does an ROV Operate?

Discussion Questions for Your Classroom

www.marinetech.org

How do you design the ballast system of the ROV so that it does not change density no matter how much pressure is applied? There are two kinds of ballast systems: 1) Dynamic or soft-ballast. The idea here is that you must change the amount of water displaced inside the ballast chamber. If you inject air into the chamber, the ROV will float; if you take air out, it sinks. The more pressure that is applied (the deeper you go), the smaller the air space in the chamber becomes. Example: An inverted glass jar. The air will continue to be compressed and the water level will continue to rise unless you blow air into the top to equalize between air pressure and water pressure. Soft ballast chambers expand and contract depending on depth. 2) Static ballast. ROVs use static ballast systems that are nearly neutral, and use motors to move them up and down. A static ballast system is designed so that no matter how much squeeze the canister "feels," it maintains its volume of air as it descends. This is because the canister is made to be pressure resistant. The static ballast system used in ROVs is syntactic foam a foam of densely-packed glass microspheres. How does an ROV sink? There are three forces at play here: 1) Buoyancy upward force (B) 2) Gravity downward force (G) 3) Pressure downward force (P) You want your ROV to float before it sinks; therefore you want B greater than G. This means that you have to add a pressure force P to get the ROV to sink. G+P is then greater than B, and the ROV sinks. To move the ROV forward and backward, you need another force. Motors, placed on the horizontal axis, supply this force. What shape should the ROV be? The purpose of the vehicle dictates its design and what you put on it in terms of sensors, manipulators, collecting and sampling devices, etc. The bottom line is that function drives the design.

Harry Bohm & Jill Zande/MATE Center July 2000

Example: the earliest, simplest autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a torpedo. The purpose of the torpedo is to blow up ships; therefore, it doesnt need a camera or manipulators! Square boxes are the worst shape to move underwater. It is true that brute force horsepower will move square boxes, but still this isnt the most efficient design. However, if you have brute force available (like power coming down a tether and a number of thrusters), then the square box shape is okay, especially since it is a very stable shape as far as providing a working platform. Water currents add a whole other force to overcome when trying to move the vehicle. AUVs are streamlined in shape because their goal is to go faster and because they are dealing with a power limitation. Because their power is limited, their shape has to be very efficient to move through the water able to move easily with little energy expended. In theory, ROVs have no power limitation because power is supplied continuously from the surface. In reality, there is a power limitation because cables are resistant and therefore, not perfect conductors of electrical energy. What about the power-to-weight-to-speed relationship? The faster you go, the more drag you have. Likewise, the bigger you are, the more drag you have. Water is more viscous than air 400 times more viscous. Think of a plane flying through the air at 1,000 mph its impossible to travel that fast in water unless you have a streamlined shape and unlimited power. AUVs are streamlined but have a power limitation; their onboard batteries deplete themselves. Power limitation is one of the major hurdles to overcome in AUV design and operation. What is used for navigation and sensors? Compasses, sonar, and video are used for navigation. Lights are another type of sensor. On smaller underwater units, YOU are the navigation and the sensors. How do you communicate with your vehicle? The tether is the wire that runs from the ROV to the controller, supplying power and communication to the ROV. How do you communicate underwater without a tether? Using sound (acoustics), lasers, and really low frequency radio waves. When sending signals through the water using acoustics, bandwidth is a problem; bandwidth is so low data transfer rates are so low its not practical. Sending signals through the water with acoustics is like sending data through a 14K modem (think about connecting to the internet using a 14K modem versus DSL!).

Harry Bohm & Jill Zande/MATE Center July 2000

Two physics rules that you need to know: 1) Floats always above the weights. If not, the vehicle will right itself to make sure floats are above weights. The center of buoyancy (CB) is always above the center of gravity (CG). A fighter plane has the CB and CG in the same spot because its goal is to be highly maneuverable. Some submersibles are built this way as well. However, having the CB and CG in the same spot requires active control by the pilot or a computer to keep it that way. The distance between the CB and the CG determines stability. The longer this distance is, the more stable the vehicle is; the shorter the distance, the less stable, but the more maneuverable. Why are ROVs box-shaped? ROVs are made to do work pick things up, etc. You need a stable platform to do this; therefore, you need to increase the distance between the CB and the CG. Thats why ROVs are so tall; a large distance between the CB and the CG equals stability. 2) The submarine has to float before it can sink. There are bottom-crawling ROVs that are made to sink because their purpose is to sit and work on the bottom. If your vehicle doesnt float, youre going to have problems maintaining a position and working in mid-water. Therefore, 99% of the time you want your ROV to float before it sinks. Eight things you need to think about in building your ROV (in no particular order): 1) Structure. This keeps it all together. 2) Power. 3) Propulsion. 4) Control. Transfer and transform the power from one state to another electrical to mechanical (motion) requires control. Control divides the power and manages it. 5) Navigation and sensors. Cameras, compasses, sonar, lights, etc. in pressure housing. For examples, the Hyball ROV has a way to track where its been. Its an acoustic sensor that will return a signal from the boat. This return signal is then used to determine where the ROV is relative to the boat. Since you cant use a GPS system to directly determine the position of the ROV because GPS wont work underwater, you use a trackpoint system that will calculate an offset from the GPS antennae on the boat to the return signal from the ROV. 6) Flotation 7) Ballast 8) Payload. The tools used to accomplish the job! ************************************************************************

Harry Bohm & Jill Zande/MATE Center July 2000