Aquabot: remote operated underwater vehicle (rov)

Thesis (Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering) -- University of Rizal System-Morong.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This study AQUABOT: Remote Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) was conducted primarily to develop and design a Remote Operated Underwater vehicle with the use of locally available materials and determine the level of acceptability of the developed device in terms of accuracy, cost durability, functionality, portability and safety and maintenance. The study conducted at University of Rizal System-Morong Campus during the school year 2015-2016 and was tested in an aquarium and in swimming pool. The researchers used modified questionnaire checklist as an instrument to measure the acceptability of the developed device. Thirteen (13) experts in the field of marine, underwater sciences, engineering and persons knowledgeable on microcontrollers were the respondents of this particular study. The device was evaluated by the experts because their specialization matters to further development and improvement of the device, its operations, functions, and purpose. The researchers used the developmental methods of research in gathering the data and information to determine the acceptability of the AQUABOT: Remote Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV). The device consist of: motors, motor driver, tether cables, remote control, propeller, camera, USB DVR (Universal Serial Bus-Digital Video Recorder), and a microcontroller as developmental tools for the research study. The software applications used were Arduino 1.6.5 Sketch and SuperViewer which are responsible for coding the programs to control the device, and underwater live viewing to capture and save images and recordings. The researchers conducted series of experiments on aquarium and swimming pool to attest the maneuverability of the device. The summary of finding shows the result of acceptability in terms of accuracy, cost, durability, functionality, portability, and safety and maintenance as perceived by the experts. Safety and maintenance ranked first with an average weighted mean of 4.80 while, durability got the lowest with computed weighted mean of 4.10. Generally, the AQUABOT: Remote Operated Underwater Vehicle with an overall weighted mean of 4.60 was rated as "Extremely Acceptable". In conclusion, the device was developed based on its function and design. It was used as underwater surveillance device on the marine environment of the country and found Extremely Accepted. The future researchers should further design and develop the device that has higher definition camera or a better lightning has much bigger propellers, has additional sensors and features, and uses stainless materials instead of corrosive metals, and uses battery with higher capacity and performance.