L.E.V. Shallow Dive 1 – Sub Base & Thrust Concepts

I started looking for some material for the basis of the platform for the ROV I’ll be creating.  This material should be relatively rugged.  So far I’ve only found two items.

The first of which is the grating you see on florescent lights.  I’m worried it is too fragile so I’ll probably not be using it.



The second is a 12″ by 12″ drain top for lawn and garden.  Its really almost too small but it is the most promising so far.  This is a fairly tough piece of plastic.  I should be able to zip tie or attach other mounting hardware to this easily. The downside is that it is fairly expensive. I’d only need one of these, but they run around $20 each.


I’ve also spent some time thinking about how to move the sub around at depth.  A lot of the projects I’ve seen use motorized propellers, I’ve been considering standard bilge pumps instead.  The downside is that they are sort of expensive.  I think they’d run me anywhere between $20 and $50 each and I’d need at least 6 of them.  Based on cost, I may want to rethink this.
For more info, see the page devoted to this project: http://www.cdotson.com/l-e-v-shallow-dive-1/