The result displayed the graphs below displays the overall operation time and the winds speeds of the remotely operated vehicle. The wind speeds provide another means of comparing the two results. The wind speeds generated by the ROV’s motor were affected by the amount of sunlight the photovoltaic panel received. When the sunlight was obscured by the cloud the wind speed of the ROV would drop. The ROV constructed by Jon C. Cawley, and several other class mates was powered using a marine rated 12 volt battery and power inverter. Jon’s ROV was used to explore the Mountain Lake in Giles County Virginia. The solar panel/battery combination is applicable to low cost ROVs [4].
Figure 6: The Graph above displays the operation time and wind speeds of the three motors mounted onto the ROV. The wind speeds of the motors range from 9kt to 10kts for approximately 10 hours. The wind speeds of the motors were less than 8kts after 11 hours, and began to decrease steadily. 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.
Figure 7: The Graph above displays the operation time of the three motors mounted onto the ROV with the solar panel and 12v lead acid battery combination. 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 DPDT switch overheated. Seventeen hours later the wind speeds of the motors increased to the 10kts to 12kt range. The winds speeds dropped below 6kt due to smoke and cloudy weather. The last recorded wind speeds ranged from 10kt to 12kts after 25 hours and 4 minutes.
