Underwater ROV in the Makers Lab

During my visit to the Makers Lab, Allie and Alyssa took a break from scenery creation on the train table (more to come on that in another post!) to show me their underwater submarine prototype. It’s a propeller-driven model that they created from a plastic coat-hanger, weights, electrical tape, a motor, wires and some C batteries.

Waterproofed motor

“We hot glued around the motor to cover the holes and then wrapped it with electrical tape to waterproof it,” Alyssa explained. 

They are waiting on a kit to arrive in the mail. Allie and Alyssa priced out the separate pieces of their final submarine, but found that purchasing the kit that the company offered would cost less because of the sales tax on each piece purchased separately. 

When their kit is complete, they will launch their underwater ROV in the local lake with a waterproofed camera to survey the bottom. They demonstrated their prototype in the aquaponics tub for me. Might as well put that tank to use while waiting for the water to balance so that they can add tilapia fish!

A & A demonstrating their submarine prototype.

Going for a swim!

The motor runs a propeller that moves the ROV.