The result show that the ROV motors lasted a little over 12 hours using the 12v battery energy source. The wind speeds of the motors range from 9kts to 10kts for approximately 10 hours. Wind speed of the motors greatly decreased after about 10 hour6s of use. After 11 hours the motors generated wind speeds less than 4kts. A surprising result was after about 11 hours and 30 minutes the motor began to generate more than 4 knots but that only lasted a couple of minute. After 12 hours the wind speeds of the motors were immeasurable with the anemometer. The motors stopped soon after 12 hours as followed vertical, starboard then port. When the solar panels were attached to the ROV battery the motors ran for longer than the regular battery. The average wind speed generated was not different from the 12v battery. The ROV motors wind speeds ranged from 10kt to 12kt for approximately 12 hours After 12 hours the wind speeds of the motors decreased due to cloudy weather. The port motor stopped working approximately 14 hours and 5 minutes because the double pole double throw (DPDT) switch overheated. The winds speeds dropped below 6kt due to smoke and cloudy weather. Seventeen hours later the wind speeds of the motors increased to the 10kts to 12kt range. The motors powered by the solar panel and battery combination ran for 25 hours and 5 minutes. The battery of the ROV still powered the motors at that point. The last recorded wind speeds ranged from 10kt to 12kts after 25 hours and 4 minutes. Small ROVs can be used to explore lakes ponds, rivers and wetlands.
For future studies determining how efficient solar cells are in shallow water and possible using lithium polymer battery as the power source for the next renewable energy ROV. This shows that a solar panel/battery will power a ROV with a 12 volt battery power source. The results are record while the ROV motors are at full power. ROVs aren’t in constant motion when used for experiments and other offshore task. The gap between the two results proved that the solar panel and battery combination powered the ROV for approximately 7 hours longer than the 12v lead acid battery only. The results show that the solar panel/battery combination increased the operation time of the ROV. By constructing an advance ROV designs for a specific task with additional payloads the next experiment will be to determine whether the solar panel and battery combination improves the overall performance of the ROV.
