Underwater Drone Built With Parts From a Flying Drone

[@TheRealWulfderay]

Hey Simon, I love your videos! I work for a scuba dive computer manufacturer, and a lot of the issues you are facing are awfully familiar. Our earlier dive computers have a faceplate with 8 screws onto an o-ring sealed surface much like the one on your drone. We've found that ironically this kind of design leaks far more commonly near the surface than when at depth because the water can seep by the seal when the pressure is lower, but as the pressure increases, the faceplate is forced back upon the o-ring. The sealing surface for the o-ring is critical. Too much surface roughness (as you may find with a painted 3d print) and the water can pass right by the o-ring at lower depths. As well, properly sizing of the o-ring is also very important. Too thin and it can't make good contact, but too thick and it can fold onto itself and cause channels for water to pass by. All that being said, I am a firmware developer, not a mechanical engineer. YMMV.

[@fluffyeggs]

Temperature probably plays a part too. The water will start to cool the internal volume of air dropping the pressure inside. Getting the electronics hot to compensate, pressurizing the hull slightly, or pre-cooling below water temp might help.

[@AntiVaganza]

Thanks for the input. Sounds like you may have used a face seal, then. Maybe you went to a "piston type" seal later on. I noticed a lot of, if not all, Suuntos use that. Just one correction, small, thin o-rings can actually hold quite a lot of pressure perfectly well - as long as the surfaces are smooth. But if you meant sealing on a 3D printed surface, I guess you are right, a bigger surface could help bridge small gaps in the surface. Anyhow, I have 1.5mm cross section o-rings in some spots in my pneumatic spearguns ( up to 33bar). And Suunto has 1.0mm cross section rings on the button pins on, at least, D4 and D6 computers. And in one place in one of my computers, they have an even smaller one.

[@unicorntulkas]

@@AntiVaganza Another thing with o-rings is that you should put a generous amount of grease on them to fill any gaps. I work in manufacturing/qc for small sensors and we always have a big jar of vaseline at hand to grease up the seal of our pressure tester.

[@AntiVaganza]

@@unicorntulkas I hate to disagree, but normally, the rule of thumb is not to put much grease on o-rings. As little as possible, actually. I think the idea for the grease is not to fill in gaps, but more to lower the friction of the o-ring so that it can move easily into where it needs to sit in the groove during assembly and when pressure is increased. Perhaps, that's just the internet speaking, and maybe you are right, but that's how I have always done it. I would think if you need grease to fill in gaps, your surface is not smooth enough in the first place.

[@optikid0373]

@@AntiVaganza I mean I’m not an engineer, but I play trumpet and we use grease and oil on the slides and valves to help seal the instrument when we play. It mostly lubricates but helps with leaks too

[@nathan1sixteen]

You have to remember to oil those motors after EVERY use. Get some CorrosionX HD and soak the motors in it. It should help prevent the bearings from seizing like they did

[@ethankey5805]

Yer for my rc car motors /drone I power them up in distilled water to get out all the dirt then oil then they don’t seize

[@ChaNnArD-mD]

I was expecting a 3D printed scuba suit... kinda disappointing.

[@bittasweetsymphony726]

you are not supposed to pollute wildlife water with oil

[@MrThomashorst]

@@bittasweetsymphony726 you can use vegetable oil instead

[@hjoore]

You can easily replace the bearings with 3D resin printed water-film bearings/bushings , I did this on a 5065 motor on a diy electric kayak, works much better than ball bearings under water. The water forms a film and decreases the noise a bit. The ones I have designed have 6 small canals running axially across the bushings which suck in the water that creates the film. No oil, no rust, no contact

[@AllanElkaim]

I find your dedication to making an underwater drone amazing, despite all the failed attempts you never give up ! Keep up the good work :)

[@roraraptor]

Only halfway through, and someone has probably suggested this already, but.. To save yourself some trial and error with the ballast, you could just temporarily seal the hull, submerge it in a container, take note of how much water it displaces, and calculate the updrift on the drone. Then just add enough ballast to make the drone weigh the same or a bit more than the updrift, and you should be golden~

[@FarmerFpv]

You're an RC Legend! I have been watching you for years. Never disappointed with your new projects. Always posting the good, the bad, the ugly, and in the end rewarding projects. Keep it up, Simon.

[@robertst-laurent6452]

Have you tried putting the access cover under the unit instead of on top? The air pressure inside might be enough to prevent water from coming entering the sub.

[@Arek_R.]

You probably won't read this but here are some things that could be improved: - Replace original ball bearings with sleeve bearings - Print the housing using ABS and do acetone smoothing - Make the lid smaller and out of aluminium (you need the weight anyway) - There might have been something wrong with how you used the gasket, make sure you use continuous one, ideally rubber one not the weird foam one - Instead of gluing all the connector use proper IP rated connectors with orings - If you want to avoid the balance connector, attach active balancer circuit (1A balance current and it's not dumping the excess into resistors but to the cell with lower voltage) because you do really need balancing for li-po, you can skip it for perfectly matched li-ion (a lot of power tools and all laptops do that)

[@paradieshenne]

I would agree that matche lthium ion don´t really need balancing (but you never know, if they are used for years and for example one is nearer to a hot driver, they will unbalance a bit), but all laptop batteries ive opened have active balancing (from 10 years ago to quite current models)

[@szajba8106]

The lid could be undearneath too, even made of steel for better weight distribution. The other good thing about this solution is the water is forcing itself more through roof, the air inside boat will prevent water from getting in (as long as it's horizontal, so most of the time)

[@IOUaUsername]

Ceramic bearings are pretty common, and they can't rust. The water should actually lubricate them so that you don't need any oil (less pollution in the water). Just don't run the motors when they're dry or it will wear the bearings. Due to the hardness required of a bearing material, you can't make them from a type of stainless steel which won't rust like 316.

[@bjornSE]

Good point about using proper connectors. Even if you would manage to seal around a normal connector, it will most likely leak between the pins and the plastic. Water can pass inside the cables between the wire and the conductor, so if it can get in one end it will come out the other sooner or later. Another issue is electrolysis of the conductors. While regular water is only slightly conductive it becomes very conductive when you have the positive and negative terminals in a closed space, the current corrodes the metal and the ripped of metal ions increases the waters conductivity which increases the current and thus the rate of corrosion until the conductors becomes a highly conductive metal soup. In salt water you're just screwed if you don't do it right.

[@durururururururu]

Also, You can just cool down the transmitter by making a hole for the heatsink, and seal it shut so water won't get in. It's water cooling, free real estate.

[@MadCorpCompany]

Ok, this is cool, and the fact that you show all the journey to arrive to a working thing is just awesome !

[@DinJaevel]

I recommend putting propellor guards on those props of yours. They will make easy use of the umbillacal and leave your ROV (remote operated vehicle) loose and dead in the water. Also important on both your home made ROV and the iFish is to keep a count on how many turns you make in each direction, as a lot of turns and a sharp pull can sever the connection inside the umbillical. It is easier to seal a round hatch waterproof than a square and it is very, very important to cross tighten the screws. I.e. tighten the opposite screws, much like the bolts on a car wheel.

[@rwstuart9272]

The best tip I can give you is to seal the electronic components before sealing the actual body, and some wd40 can make a stuck motor spin almost instantly but I would recommend using some kind of water sealant or oil since wd40 isn't meant for being submerged in water. Grease can also work like a charm too, but overall you did an excellent job making this rc underwater drone.

[@ohctascooby2]

Suggestions for you… 1. instead of multiple cables running to surface which are bulky, heavy, and don’t allow the drone to move as freely as it could… just lengthen the receiver antenna so it reaches the surface. 2. All openings should be round. You could design one that threads (like a jar lid) on and has o-ring at base. Should seal reliably, easily, and be quickly removable.

[@Astropowergtv]

We want a family blog from you because we don’t know about your family and love to see more from you and love the comedian style you put into your videos

[@MariusEV123]

They are called ROV. Better to have the electronics in an cylinder with o-ring endcaps and bulkhead-connectors. Then also do a vacuum test

[@davenarisotto3674]

Using the other drone to pick garbage up was cool, that's a very cool application

[@lakotamm]

For 2 years I worked on ROVs for a competition. My experience is that: 1.WIRES LET WATER THROUGH. Oh yeah. If you have a wire running from the outside to the inside and you do not put a waterproof connector there - like on your motors - water will get inside through the wire itself. 2. We never managed to seal a faceplate onto a faceplate like your hatch - no O ring could fully seal it, even when we used marine grease. Instead we had to put the O ring radially against a perfectly flat surface (like an acrylic tube) and use at least 2 of them. 3. ESCs heat up and increase the air pressure inside. This sounds kinda good if you have a good sealing, because it pushes air and water out. However it also puts a stress on your sealings from the other direction, which can damage them and make them leak, if you did not take it into consideration.

[@Lizlodude]

Couple quick notes, motors, as others have said they won't fail immediately but oil will help a lot, and at least rinse with clean water afterwards. Also, with the balance lead, usually with a well-balanced battery with well-matched cells, it will probably be fine, but charging with only the main lead can definitely lead to some cell imbalance and damage. In the future, you can get a passive balancer board that will balance while charging, but take very little (or no) power otherwise. For something short like that, I would just undercharge it a bit, like to 4.1/cell or so just to avoid overcharging a cell.

[@Vousie]

Yup. I totally cringed when he said you don't need to use the balance lead when charging (and didn't follow it up with a warning about cell balancing). But since he was apparently only doing this as an ad for that expensive commercial one I guess it makes sense...

[@macShen]

12:06 - not only two crabs fighting but also a starfish riding a leaf :D

[@macShen]

Thanks for the scam... Sigh

[@snjert8406]

Damn this was fun! I'm glad that you don't just show the end result but also the way of getting there, including all the failures! Awesome video, man!

[@PCBWay]

Masterclass! Please do more Videos 👍👍

[@maisaanmufeed438]

Okey this looks much more cleaner, the design is really coolll, ALSO WHEN ARE YOU GONNA USE THE HUGE BLDC MOTOR YOU GOT

[@MatthewNovoselskiy]

he already did

[@maisaanmufeed438]

@@MatthewNovoselskiy oohhh, sorry my bad I forgot😭😭

[@NoGufff]

Awesome stuff, mate. Great to see your sister getting involved too.

[@rolar321]

Du lyckas alltid lägga ut intressanta saker och detta är nog lika bra som allt annat på din kanal.

[@tobiasohlsson2425]

This channel is pure chaos. I LOVE IT!

[@chemicalvamp]

please dont give up on having a hatch you can open, And I didn't see you properly testing for leaks, submerging in a wheelbarrow with neutral pressure isn't good. I would recommend adding a schrader valve for testing, you could use a hand pump for a little bit of pressure, and just leave it on the drone knowing it is air tight. And to test for leaks, You can use the wheelbarrow (lol) or just some soapy water, watch for bubbles. I really hope this project continues, I myself have always wanted to build one, Mine was going to have a metal detector in it as well. :)

[@BornIIfly]

Hey Simon, Simon here, respect ✊ Take care

[@offaxisfpv]

Holy hell, i cant believe you put a huge 6s battery ontop of the drone in the wheelbarrow full of water. you are CRAZY

[@nek111]

Use CorrosionX on the motors, and all the electronics inside, that stuff is pure magic! Trust me I fly over salt water :) Also, you NEED those balance leads to safely charge… Cells will slowly have different voltages and the list of stuff that can go wrong grows. But hey, its your house… Amazing project!!

[@SeanReevesD]

1:11 that was a smooth transition 👍

[@shinrakishitani1079]

That's pretty amazing, I would like to give a suggestion for the floatation device though, instead of blowing air into it you could seal it with a water cooling system inside, a water cooling heatsink with a circulating fan and a pump using the water from whatever it's floating in. This is a more complicated solution but it would avoid trouble from rain, rough waters, etc. Also even on hot days the waters will be significantly colder than ambient air temp so it should cool the components very well

[@PutlerXLO]

1) reed switch + magnet to switch off. 2) wireless charcher module from Aliexpress 3) waterproof brushless motor from Ali

[@mattster7412]

The Titan sub needed a man like you

[@Festivejelly]

Mate your projects are bloody brilliant. This one is one of my faves.

[@exklimexklim]

You could just ad a power switch with magnets. And a magnetic coil charger for wireless charging. Slow but works.

[@fluffigverbimmelt]

Next time you dump a case with electronics into cold water, add a few moisture absorbers (or fill it with completely dry air)

[@Neo2]

glad your back missed you and your videos

[@AntiVaganza]

It's late and honestly will take a chance from a cursery glance at the comments and say, Simon still can't print a watertight hull nor use o-rings;-) Here goes my tips: You can print watertight. Print at high temps, no retractions, watch any gaps carefully and play with overlap and such. Look at what the guys printing RC sailboats are doing. Waterproof hulls at 1-2 walls:) O-ring design is not difficult at all. And to aid you just use Trelleborg's or Erik's online o-ring calculators. I have printed parts for pneumatic speargun holding 30 bar of pressure and all the o-ring groove dimensions were verified in one of the above calculators. But it can be difficult to FDM print a super smooth bore or groove that an o-ring can seal against at higher pressures. I solved it by secondary machining - sometimes just sanding. But with resin printing, you can actually get the surfaces smooth enough.

[@ZeroHiking]

for v3 you could try a submerged audio transmitter for control

[@Dooezzz]

If you plan on leaving the flotation device, maybe you can remove the battery from the drone alltogether and power it from the device?

[@kameljoe21]

I wonder if a jet drive would be better. Removing every thing except for the camera and batteries. Batteries are better suited close to the motors unless you want super thick cables for power. I seen a comment above about someone talking about doing a vacuum test. I wonder if one could pull a vacuum and it would still work underwater with all of the different types of pressures at depth? I can not recall who made a sub a while back. They used a syringe to push and pull water for buoyancy.

[@Dooezzz]

@@kameljoe21DIY Perks did a submarine like that.

[@kameljoe21]

@@Dooezzz Yeah that was the one. I could not think of it. It was pretty cool!

[@10100rsn]

Instead of epoxy or that awful silicon, try using RTV Ultra-Black. It should make a better seal and won't leak corrosive chemicals into the area with the electronics. Ultra-Black is the one to use around any electronics. ;)

[@predatorarmyfishing5901]

Silicium pack inside is the key for moisture 😉

[@BOTGRINDER]

Yes! This is sick.

[@PS1212]

6:35 why not make the body of the floating transmitter made out of aluminum? One big heat sink into water cooling.

[@hots2215]

just another amazing video that made me watch at 3 am...

[@rcfan1304]

Hello, Can someone tell me wich software is be used for controling this underwater drone and how this work with a flight controler

[@Deneteus]

Since you printer the drone in PLA you should have vapor smoothed the inside and the outside to prevent leaks. You can use dichloromethane for PLA or print the drone in ABS and use acetone.

[@ThiBuchianeri1]

you got my like just because you pick the litter goodjobman

[@OTRFlyer]

This video is so freakin cool! I'm so excited I haven't even finished the first half of the video and I'm already in the comments! I totally need to build this so I can find my other quads that I've sunk in various bodies of water lol!

[@mitchellstrobbe7779]

Put some conformal coating on the electronics after you have them all assembled. Should keep them from dying when a little bit of moisture makes its way in

[@chrisleech1565]

Best thing I have seen in weeks Simon. Thank you for your sense of humour.

[@Ohnoitsbuggerednow]

In the small 5v usb water pumps you can buy , the impeller is attached to a magnet , and spun in a waterproofed alternating coil .. so no water shorts the motor out . the impeller and magnet just sit inside a tube that's part of the housing . Would water jets be as good for steering?

[@patprop74]

A+ for effort, I also made little water motors out of old CDROM disk drives, even after packing and filling the inside of the 3d printed housing with waterproof gear grease. water still managed to find its way in and seized the motors. Water environment is just as challenging as space I think.

[@DMonZ1988]

bro thats awesome! did you see the starfish drifting by during the crab fight? its going down under the sea! nice job picking up the trash :)

[@NoGreedSeeds]

The YT algorithm is kicking for me with this recommendation. I love drones and model subs and have been looking at diy for a bit. Thinking about a pvc frame with outriggers for control arms much like a fpv drone.

[@AquaticRobotic42]

I like your style with the brushless motors and wireless float on the surface. Made my own underwater drone this way, which is constant work in progress, but works quite well most of the time. I found epoxy sealing where the wires go into the motor helps since wires are not coated where they join from motor windings to cable. Also I use pvc pipe as a pressure hull. Pipe union style fittings for the pvc pipe have an o-ring style seal, and you can swap the flat side of the union for a piece of plexiglass/acrylic and you have an easily openable but very robust hatch of sorts. Only challenge there is you then need a long narrow chassis to easily get electronics in and out of the pipe enclosure. Keep up the cool projects!

[@sulphur_fpv]

I done mine the same as you with PVC pipe and used screw cap ends, unfortunately the smallest I could find was 100mm pipe and wished I could have found some screw on caps to suit 65mm pipe so it would have displaced less. I got around this by adding a heap of lead in the pipe, the battery sits on the lead so it kinda works like a heat sink lol

[@tarcisiobatista5595]

Bro u r 99% there, hell yeah Sucess-ish! Dont give up now.

[@CoolAsFreya]

Drone motors CAN survive clean water, but they absolutely don't tolerate dust, dirt, and particulate!

[@RettlonHD]

3:11, is there NF's "let you down" playing in the background?

[@theviperman3]

Simon... another SUCCESS-ISH video. Loved it !!!!!

[@PS1212]

12:00 where this video really gets good

[@gmanhi5]

I like all your videos, but would like more always want more.

[@PCBWay]

we just can't agree more ✌

[@emmettturner9452]

**reads title** “This kid is going places.”

[@PCBWay]

Can't agree more 😊

[@GeorgeCooper_LoneWolf]

How can somebody as clumsy as you be so bloody brilliant. You're a genius mate this is looking fantastic

[@locke_ytb]

Great video, Simon.

[@sibbewidegren5661]

YEEES FINALLY! A new episode. Älskar dina vidios, hare gött

[@channelisomo]

That is the thing, because underwater drone lot of time cost lot more than flying drone

[@3DLL.]

Awesome build great work mate

[@danielecappetta9444]

congrats on your drone, it's great. I wanted to ask you for information. Also I'm trying to make my own submarine that has a camera and I'm trying to make it with an arduino. I wanted to ask if you could tell me how I can send the video signal via a cable like the one you made directly to the PC. Thank you

[@007REAPER007]

a proper rubber seal around your screws should fix any water leak issues to a certain depth. Also, for the heat sink in the transmission box you could cut a hole in the bottom and seal a heatsink in the hole this way the lake water would cool the heatsink. Cool Project.

[@chyrt]

conformal coat the electrical components inside, to give them extra resistance against water

[@Chemnut220]

I am finally getting back to doing cool creative stuff like this. Super cool to see your work even if it was a failsess - frustrating but enjoyable at times and very informative to go through the process.

[@muhdhilmi1506]

Garrett Evans Wow thank you Garrett, you've made my day!

[@Creative_Electronics]

Nice video as always Simon :)

[@philsponsel3824]

V3 please, we belive in you!

[@Duke-px2kk]

om jag hade mer tid skulle jag fortsatta med projektet. bra jobbat, du kommer lyckas!

[@proislam-co6pg]

to avoid motor problems in seawater, place them inside and use magnets to couple the outside props to the motors. As an option, instead of props placing far outside, you could use floating canals with the advantage of not getting hit by cable or other obstacles

[@mael3527]

the biggest flaw for the sealed is that it's a square and not a round shape, you're loosing a LOT of water resistence because of the shape, that's why you never see square scuba diving watch, they are always round because it's way better to survive the depth pressures than a square.

[@Rostol]

the way you cool watertight devices is by having a heatsink (or a full pump and heat-exchanger and blower (radiator)) with or without fan to the hull, it blows cold air from there. water will go inside the floating relay thru the fan opening and you'll lose it. also if you shape the floating relay like a buoy it would be better, like 2 tall cones stuck by their circular parts, with some lead ballast on one end around the cable exit (and a cooling heatsink) and the antenna up top, that way it causes less drag to the sub and stands the antenna easier over the waves, waves cut out, and reflect the signal upwards. you could open it and close it twisting the two cones together with some o-rings in between

[@WhiteG60]

I'd make the bottom of the 'hull' of the floating control out of aluminum with an o-ring seal to the plastic sides/top. Then use that aluminum as a heatsink, or even put some actual heatsinks on the bottom so that you're constantly water-cooling the heatsinks.

[@TheWebstaff]

If you put the hatch at the bottom of the sub then the air won't try to escape through the hatch.. It will still leak as your cursed but at least it will leak less.

[@МаксМаксов-к9ь]

Молодец !!!! 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@USGRO]

Do you have the 3D models for the housing and propeller available for download somewhere?

[@TheBigRedSheep]

That’s a cool submarine

[@thatonesnowboarde]

You could water cool the heat sink rather than having a fan... Great vids

[@HindsightFPV]

Always enjoy watching your videos.

[@joshuasmith2450]

I do robosub in College. Waterproofing really is such a difficult challenge.

[@PBGBen]

Take tho bags of desiccant that come with 3d printer filament and place some inside, it will help with humidity

[@alothaiqi]

I agree with your doctor 😜 . . because craze is half of the genicity

[@MrSmileyn]

You may consider using removable gel to protect your electronic from accidental water ingress, we use that on outdoor electrical junction box, you mix 2 liquid that solidify into a gel that is close in texture to the gel candle. If you want to remove, you can juste break the gel

[@TheStuartstardust]

Also perhaps a kids daiper for capturing the water inside 😀🤓

[@brapak9483]

2nd toss had me rolling 😂😂😂

[@fookingsog]

SUCCESS-ISH-FUL!!!😁👍🏻

[@proislam-co6pg]

The ventilator opening is also enabling waves destroying the electronics. Make it sealed and get cooling from the water. Either by using metal to be contacted by water or use an active watercooler from a PC

[@andersekman3803]

tack för dina väldigt inspirerande projekt och just rover får en att drömma om att endag ha råd att bygga en egen (utan att sälja en njure) kör hårt!

[@tobins6800]

I would say look into SLA printing for the most critical parts. Maybe consider aluminum parts for the sealing surfaces.

[@wompstopm123]

u could have a lid that slides into a groove and is fastened down from 1 side with 1 screw have u seen a tv remote?

[@maxmustermann2596]

Doesn't the flotation device need more than one hole, so the air, which is pushed inside by the fan, can escape?

[@MrDexter9i3]

Fan is more like an “air directioner” and less of a compressor. While directing the air inside it also lets air escape through it

[@maxmustermann2596]

@@MrDexter9i3 In that role, it mostly turns the air around, and the exchange rate of air is really low. The air can't get in and escape at the same time through the same space and while trying to blow it inside, there are not many spots within the fan for air to escape freely.

[@KshooTV]

"And it's even waterproof" that was fun!

[@theflamecoreguy7929]

"call me crazy my doctor already did" I can feel you 🤣

[@brianbagnall3029]

Love this project! Can't wait to see V3.

[@jordancoleman2402]

What control board are you using that works with the dx6i

[@ChenhaoZhang-kf1gu]

The editing is epic

[@dnzdrakrks7549]

Ain't no way bro found two crabs fighting 💀💀💀😭😭😭