The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation has been using a BlueROV2 (named R2Deep2) for scientific surveys in Southern California:
Enclosure leak spotting
There is nothing more frustrating than failing a pre-flight vacuum test the day before an important dive. We suggest the following steps to help find that persistent leak:
- Mix a liquid soap solution in water (more soap than water) and fill into a small spray bottle (at least 1/3 full). Dishwashing liquid will do but avoid anti-bacterials
- Place a towel under the ROV and close all enclosure vents except the leaking enclosure. Make sure to protect the topside FathomX card from spray
- Using the brass fitting and tubing from the vacuum tester, connect the leaking enclosure’s vent to a bicycle hand pump (NOT electric)
- Carefully spray the leaking enclosure with the soap solution. We suggest starting with the rear end-cap and penetrators. If you aren’t able to find the leak there, repeat with the front end cap and flange edges.
- Gently pump air into the enclosure and look for bubbles. One or two pumps should be sufficient – too much pressure will cause the end caps to pop off. The bubbles will narrow down the location of the enclosure leak(s).
Possible causes could be a loose penetrator, a cut or broken o-ring, dirt or hair on the o-ring, not enough silicone, etc.
Happy hunting!
ROV Finds Fukushima Reactor Fuel
Exciting article yesterday from The New York Times, Science about the Mini-Manbo ROV finding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor’s melted uranium fuel: https://nyti.ms/2hLLvTi
360 video of Australian Seals
[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]How playful are these seals! Keep an eye out for a school of fish behind you towards the end of this clip. We were very surprised to see them so close to the seals…[/cs_text][x_video_embed no_container=”false” type=”16:9″]
seals 360 spark 2 from underseaROV on Vimeo.
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BlueROV2 exploring in Alaska
You might recognise the ROV being used to explore moulins in Alaska, places where water has formed a waterfall through a glacier: <a href=”https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6954″>Robot Spelunkers Go For a Dip</a>