BROV (BEE ROWV, derived from "Benthic Remotely Operated Vehicle").
A BROV is a member of a class of underwater vehicles that operate in contact with the bottom and are propelled by wheels or tracks. They are computer controlled and connected to the topside operator by an umbilical cable that carries power, video and command and control messages. They are typically equipped for specific jobs ranging from doing underwater work to gathering visual and electronic data.
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Description
The VIDEO PROBE BROV represents a new class of underwater work and research tool. This vehicle has most of the characteristics of the standard free swimming mini ROVs that are common today but is designed to operate in the benthic environment. It is always negatively buoyant and is propelled by tracks that contact the bottom and is connected to the surface by a buoyant umbilical cable. On the surface are a laptop PC, a power source and video viewing and recording equipment. It is optimized for use in hostile and near zero visibility environments such as turbid estuaries, streams and rivers and under cold or icing waters. With a maximum operating depth of 100 feet and using 150 feet of cable it is a shallow water system. It is designed to provide high resolution video pictures to the surface with macro to long distance viewing with no focusing required. With precision positioning control from the keyboard of the computer the camera can be placed in the optimum required viewing position. Utilizing an on board digital magnetic compass the direction of bottom travel is continually displayed along with a plot of the BROV track as is the output of other installed sensors. The computer program provides the means to navigate the BROV, operate auxiliary equipment such as sample collection devices, operates the pan and tilt of the camera pod and inputs and displays data from installed sensors and saves the data to disk. The software system is configurable by the operator for such parameters as data rate for each installed sensor, the type of on screen display for sensors and data file specifications. Open source code programming, industry standard data transmission and protocols and inherent expandability make the system versatile and reconfigurable to satisfy many research challenges.
The BROV project is a personal project of the authors as is meant only to be a fun project and to satisfy a desire to do underwater exploration and discovery.
