Underwater ROV, orange-shell build

An underwater ROV build shown on the control-electronics slide of the Flat-Frame ROV case. The slide describes an RK3566 Linux main controller, a custom motion-control board driving the thrusters, an MS5837 depth sensor and a 1080p camera with live video, run from a Qt ground station on Windows or Linux. The photos show a vehicle with orange thruster shells, a front camera dome with two lights, and a clear electronics tube.

Front of an ROV with orange thruster shells on a grey carpet: clear camera dome in a black housing, two small lights below, a hand holding two metal rods above — Front camera dome and lights.

Tech stack

Main controller: RK3566 running Linux
Motion control: Custom motion-control board with PWM drive, current monitoring and protection
Sensors: MS5837 depth/pressure sensor
Camera: 1080p / 30 fps underwater camera with live video and recording
Power: Internal power system designed for up to 3 hours
Software: Manual and assisted cruise modes; UDP command and telemetry; Qt ground station for Windows and Linux; 4G remote control and video

What we built

Mechanical design and assembly engineering
Hardware and PCB design
Embedded device-side software
Remote-control terminal and UI
Machining, integration and system bring-up

Development time

2 months

Photos and design files

Close-up inside the clear electronics tube between orange shells, wiring and a connector board, with a red box and red Chinese annotation marking the blue EC8 power connectors — Inside the electronics tube; red note marks the EC8 power plugs.

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