Underwater platform builds
ROV component kits for underwater vehicle builds
Underwater vehicle projects rarely fail on a single part. They fail where two parts meet: a 300 m thruster on a 100 m housing, a bulkhead one hole short, a vehicle that floats when it should hover. This page is about buying the parts as a set that fits together.
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Why buy as a set
The vehicle is only as deep as its shallowest part.
Every part of an ROV that touches water has its own pressure rating, and the vehicle is rated to the lowest of them: thrusters, housing, end caps, penetrators, connectors, sensors and the O-rings between them. One 100 m part on an otherwise 300 m vehicle makes a 100 m vehicle, and people usually find that out in a pressure test, after the parts have been bought.
The electrical side works the same way. Thruster stall current sets the wiring and fuses. The supply voltage decides how much thrust the thrusters produce. The number of separately switched circuits decides how many conductors pass through the bulkhead, and so how many holes the end cap needs. Deciding all of that together costs far less than machining a second end cap.
The point of buying the parts together is to settle how they connect once, while changing it still costs nothing.
What goes into it
The parts, and where each one is listed.
Propulsion
Brushless marine thrusters in non-ESC and integrated-ESC variants, with matched heavy-duty aluminium propellers in clockwise and counter-clockwise pairs.
Pressure housings
Acrylic and aluminium tube enclosures with end caps, clamps, internal trays and shelves for mounting electronics inside the housing.
Getting wires through the wall
Penetrators for permanent runs and wet-mateable connectors for anything that has to come apart on deck. Count these early: they decide the end-cap drilling.
Sensing and feedback
Depth and temperature sensors that thread into the same M8, M10 and M14 ports as the rest of the range, so the housing drilling stays consistent.
Seeing and lighting
Cameras and dimmable lighting for inspection work. Lighting draws a lot of current, so put it in the power budget from the start.
Trim and buoyancy
Solid buoyancy foam to make the vehicle slightly buoyant, so after a power failure it floats up to be recovered.
Controls, indicators and assembly
Pressure-tolerant switches, potentiometers and displays, plus the O-rings, wrenches and picks you need on the bench to assemble it all.
Proving it before it goes in the water
Bench pressure testing for bulkheads and assembled housings. The cheapest leak is the one found in a test chamber.
Example builds
Three shapes a build usually takes.
Tank and trials platform
Teaching labs, pool testing, first builds
- Four thrusters in a vectored horizontal layout, plus one vertical
- One acrylic tube enclosure with end caps and clamp set
- Electronic tray set to mount the controller and power inside the tube
- Penetrators for thruster runs, plus a spare gland for later additions
- Depth sensor, spare O-ring set and an installation wrench
Inspection-class ROV
Port, dam, hull and tank inspection work
- Six thrusters: four vectored horizontal, two vertical for heave
- Matched clockwise and counter-clockwise aluminium propellers
- Pressure housing with penetrators sized for thrusters, camera, lighting and tether
- Camera and dimmable LED lighting, budgeted into the power calculation
- Depth and temperature sensing, and buoyancy foam to trim slightly positive
Instrumented research platform
Oceanographic sampling, bottom landers, long deployments
- Propulsion sized to hold station in a current, with forward speed secondary
- Housing with internal shelving for stacked instrumentation
- Wet-mateable connectors on anything that must be swapped between deployments
- Depth, temperature and switched-circuit feedback brought out to indicators
- Bench pressure testing before the first deployment, and a spares set for the field
These are outlines to start from. The thruster count, housing size and number of penetrators all depend on the vehicle you are building, and the depth rating is set by the lowest-rated part. Send us the requirement and we will reply with a specific parts list.
Selection criteria
What decides the answer.
Operating depth
Decide it first and apply it to every part that gets wet, including sensors, switches and O-rings. Use the depth you will work at. A rating deeper than you need adds cost to every part in the chain.
Bus voltage
Thrust figures are quoted at a stated voltage. The same thruster on 12 V gives far less than its 24 V figure, so choose the voltage before you read any thrust number, and size the wiring and fuses for stall current.
Penetrator and connector count
Count every conductor that has to pass through the bulkhead (thrusters, lighting, camera, sensors, tether) and add spare holes now. Adding a penetrator later means machining an end cap that is already fitted.
Buoyancy and trim
Weigh the vehicle in air and work out its displaced volume before ordering foam. Aim slightly positive so a lost vehicle floats up, and keep the ballast adjustable.
Serviceability
Decide what has to come apart on deck, in the field, with cold hands. That decides where you use a connector and where a penetrator will do, and it is a maintenance question first.
Before you enquire
What to have ready.
An enquiry carrying these can usually be answered the same day. One without them takes three emails to get to the same place.
- Operating depth, and whether that is the working depth or the test depth
- Vehicle size, dry mass and rough frame layout
- Payload: camera, lighting, sampler, instruments
- Power arrangement: tethered or battery, and the bus voltage
- Tether length and what has to pass through it
- Which components you already have, and which you need
- Quantity, delivery location and when you need it
Questions
Asked often enough to answer here.
Do you sell a complete, ready-built ROV?
We supply the components. If you want the vehicle built, that is an engineering job; see underwater ROV and AUV engineering.
Can I order a single part instead of a kit?
Yes. Every item on this page is sold on its own. We group them as kits to help the parts fit together; there is no minimum order.
How do I work out the depth rating I need?
Take the deepest point you will work at and apply it to every part that gets wet. The vehicle is rated to its lowest-rated part, so there is no benefit in one part being rated deeper than the rest.
Why are there no prices on this page?
Contact us to get exact pricing. Each order is quoted individually.
Can you help choose the parts?
Yes. Send the operating depth, vehicle size, payload and power arrangement and we will reply with suitable options.
Are datasheets available?
Yes. Ask for the manufacturer's datasheet for any product in the same enquiry.
Further reading
Guides and calculators on this subject.
Request a quotation
Planning an ROV or underwater research platform?
Send us your operating depth, vehicle size, payload, power arrangement and the parts you need using the quotation form. We will check the requirement and confirm suitable products.
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Or call +91 97028 20020.