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Hey Divers! Just wanted to share the latest diy ROV innovation by @arthur martirosyan . We've been experimenting back and forth for a while with printing props on Arthur's resin printer. I've been really drawn to that option, because (correct me if I'm wrong) Arthur's printer can print layers as thin as 50 microns. That translates to props so smooth that the appear to be injection-molded, minus the seams. So far, the resin printed props have been a bit too brittle to install or use in the field. With the new resin (I'm hoping Arthur can insert brand/link below when he gets a chance), the props are a lot more flexible. I would be remiss to not mention the composition of this shot. I was excited to try these out to begin with, but now it's just out of hand. On top of lending the props gorgeous, nearly holographic look, I think this option might also extend our Model C ROVs' battery life. Without the filament layers, I'm expecting the new props should convert a lot less of the motor's power into useless turbulent flow/drag. I'm hoping that this is true, and we'll be able tune the software a bit more to up the battery life with the new resin props. Now I have a question. Does anyone know whether there are any bioplastics/biodegradable options for resin printing? One of my favorite aspects of the current PLA props is that PLA biodegrades. That way, if you lose a prop in the drink, we know it won't stay there and mess up the trophic levels forever. Once again, Kudos to @arthur martirosyan for this build. I'll be refilling our test pool this weekend to test these as soon as they arrive. -Costas

Hey bluedot peeps Just found out about the project from youtube, good to see another open source ROV project. I use a lot of FPV drones and really want to try using off the shelf FPV drone components inside the case of a Bluedot model C but can't find the maindeck files, are they hosted anywhere? cheers!

Hey divers, Just wanted to give you all a heads up that we rewrote and added a few sections to the Archimedes software package. For newbies, that's the collection of scripts that operate inside every one of our ROVs. There are two primary changes: one that frees up the I2C pins for use with pretty much any sensor, and a new script that transmits telemetry back to the App's heads up display. Here's a quick video tutorial that shows you all the steps to install the new software package. The only changes in the physical assembly are the repositioning of the jumper wires that connect the motor drivers to the GPIO pins. This is outlined with photos in the Model C v0.1.1 assembly manual. After I VNC into the Raspberry Pi and connect to the internet, the commands I use in this video to set up all the necessary software are as follows: sudo raspi-config (Once we're in the interface, we navigate to Interface>Camera, and enable the camera. Then, we select "finish" and return to the terminal) git clone https://github.com/costassoler/Archimedes2.git cd Archimedes2 chmod +x TelemetryServer.py (Didn;t make this as clear as I should have in the video - making TelemServer.py executable is optional. You can use this script to send telemetry back to your App) chmod +x ControlServer.py chmod +x RPiCamServer.py crontab -e Once we're inside the crontab, we add the following three lines at the bottom of the file: @reboot sudo pigpiod @reboot python3 /home/pi/Archimedes2/ControlServer.py @reboot python3 /home/pi/Archimedes2/RPiCamServer.py There really isn't all that much going on inside the Model C computer when it's turned on. It just runs the pigpio daemon once at reboot, and then starts the Control and Raspberry Pi Camera servers. That leaves *plenty* of processing power for data-crunching experiments, sensors, and hardware controls we have yet to invent. I think this upgrade will help all of us get started with our own underwater experiments. I already used the I2C pins to run a compass-powered autonomous heading control and battery power display. The analog battery meter will definitely be included in future kits. I'll also post about my experiments with autonomous heading control soon! Hope this helps everyone get set up. -Costas