Topic: My 12 foot Gato class submarine! (Read 265883 times)

sub john · « **Reply #400 on:** April 15, 2013, 10:14:04 pm »

HI ALL
I have spent the last few months working on all sorts of electronic projects, as it has been to cold to go out playing with subs in cold water. One of the things i have been playing around with is being able to record sound on to SD memory card the sort of things they use for digital cameras and so on, the problem is with a lot of the SD sound card recorders that you can buy you would normally have to down load a MP3 file which some times you would have to pay for which i do not like that idea of very much as you can end up limited as to what you can put on the memory card to use for playing the sounds back. But the one i have been playing around with has got a pic which has got soft ware on it which will allow you to be able to say plug a mic in to it and record what ever you won't plus it has got a line input which means you can record from what ever you won't. When i first played around with storing sound effects for that big sub of mine every thing was recorded on to eprom because of the development of things like SD cards things can be made a lot smaller than you could a few years ago. The beauty about being able to use a mic input on the sound unit for instance you could stand behind just say a Merlin engine off a spit fire and record it then that would be the sound you would get back. I have got it all working and just need to refine it just a bit more
Sub John

sub john · « **Reply #401 on:** April 22, 2013, 12:32:17 pm »

hi guys
i finally managed to get the old video of the sub uploaded to youtube the quality isn't the best but is watchable big thanks to my son for converting it from VHS to mp4 here is three links in order to youtube to see the sub in action 20 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcbXoonzgNQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8uAjFINX5w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umwxx9mw8G8

i will hopefully be taking the submarine out later this year and i will be able to get some decent footage of the sub

Mad_Mike · « **Reply #402 on:** April 22, 2013, 03:52:29 pm »

very good. So in a summary, what differences will the new mods make to submarine compared to the ones in the video?

bikerdude999 · « **Reply #403 on:** April 22, 2013, 03:54:19 pm »

Very interesting videos, looks good on the water. Would be great to see it crossing the channel!

sub john · « **Reply #404 on:** April 22, 2013, 07:01:55 pm »

HI Mad Mike
You asked what difference the new modes will make to the sub, first thing that springs to mind is where as it used to take 30 seconds to go from full left to full right rudder it will now do it in about 1.5 seconds. Next thing the sub has now got soft ware controlled tank steering and deferential throttle control as well sub has now got low frequency radio link which will work a lot better in salt water, than standard radio control on say 40MHz. Electronically is a lot more stable than it was before because of many changes to the circuits in side of the sub, plus there is a lot more other modes but i will leave it at that for now.
All the best John

sub john · « **Reply #405 on:** April 22, 2013, 07:06:01 pm »

HI Bikerdudd
Glad you found the videos interesting looking forward on getting it back on the water, it would be nice to have a go at crossing the channel with it but weather i will i do not know.
Thanks for reply John

Mad_Mike · « **Reply #406 on:** April 22, 2013, 10:28:54 pm »

will it go deeper than whats on the video and will it have live video feedback? I suppose you intend on trying it in the sea if you have improved its salt water reception.

sub john · « **Reply #407 on:** April 24, 2013, 10:10:26 pm »

HI MIKE
Yes the sub will go a lot deeper than what it was on the video, i have sat it on the bottom on one part of charnwood waters and it was 25ft down. A friend of mine that was a diver said how deep it was where the sub was sat on the bottom, yes it will have live video coming back from the sub like you said need to test low frequency radio link to the sub in salt water.
John

Bubblehead · « **Reply #408 on:** April 29, 2013, 06:57:01 pm »

Just watched the video on youtube, that is one impressive sub.

I am sure you must have had some serious headaches during the build & sea trials.

sub john · « **Reply #409 on:** May 02, 2013, 08:19:06 pm »

HI Bubblehead
Glad you found the sub impressive, thanks for the interest in videos you said i bet you had a few headaches in the build you could not be more right not only headaches but a few days in hospital with the smell of the super glue doing the deck in all them strips of wood, i used a lot of super glue. The fumes that come off super glue can be quite nasty as i found out
Thanks again John

sub john · « **Reply #410 on:** July 15, 2013, 06:43:48 pm »

been working on a new digital piston tank controller to use for trim tanks in this big sub of mine hope you find this interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs5qmhVgTgw&feature=youtu.be

Subculture · « **Reply #411 on:** July 15, 2013, 09:10:44 pm »

The facility to alter the position of the tank in bang-bang mode before the pot feedback is valuable, as it's sometimes handy to trim when on the surface to help give props and/or control surfaces a little more bite.

You mention an inverter which suggests to me that you are using a full N-channel Mosfet bridge, requiring boost for the high side switching. Are you using a PIC or Atmel microcontroller for the 'brains' or something else?

Last but not least, are you going to market these devices, or distribute the information on how to grow your own?

If going the latter route, could I suggest a layout for PCB and variboard. The latter is bigger, but space is usually available for a slightly larger board, especially on medium size or larger boats, and I think more people are inclined to have a go if they don't have to break out the ferric chloride and etch boards.

Subculture · « **Reply #412 on:** July 15, 2013, 09:25:23 pm »

A third option would be to allow the use of a commercial H-bridge board, leaving just the logic level components to assemble. Pololu supply a range of nice H-bridge boards for robotics etc. They're not exactly cut price, but are affordable. http://www.pololu.com/catalog/category/82

This would remove the possibility of errors on a power stage where things can get lively, not to mention the ease with which Mosfets can be dispatched by static from pinkies.

sub john · « **Reply #413 on:** July 15, 2013, 10:34:35 pm »

HI Subculture
Hopefully will be going into production of this unit, have been working on other things as well to market so sorry to say that the diagrams and software will be on the top secret list and will not be given away. But you can buy one if you would like, the unit will be made SMD components so will come out small in size, i have tested this out on a electric window drive motor out of a car to see how it stood up to high current and the fets never even got hot but it comes down to how you control the switching of the fets. Inverter section is to do with the fets but all so plays another roll as well but i must say it does seem to work well i have tried to blow the test unit up and not managed to do so it is a lot better than using relays and micro switches. You will all so be-able to use hall effect sensors instead of micro switches for end stops if that is the way some one would like to go, looking in to a way of doing a way with feed back pot altogether but that is some thing else to look at in the future
Thanks for the interest John

Subculture · « **Reply #414 on:** July 15, 2013, 11:29:06 pm »

I see. Did you code any sort of PID algorithm for motor control, or does the board simply switch the motor at 100% until it hits the desired position.

sub john · « **Reply #415 on:** September 09, 2013, 05:11:53 pm »

HI ALL
After finally getting the tow bar fitted on the car again, we took the sub out yesterday and got it trimmed up which did not take as long as i thought it would. Sat it a few times on the bottom of the lake to see if there was any leaks and there was not every thing worked fine, but the bad news is i was going around with the water half way up the conning tower and some bright spark ran over the deck with there steam boat, smashed the railings off both sides broke the sonar off made a make across the deck leading to weeks of repairs.I can not see me being able to take it out again this year unless weather stays good for a few more weeks, i can see I'm going to have to think about fitting live torpedoes to it and then see who dares sail over my decks again HA HA.

Met up with one of the guys off mayhem called Gazza at Leicester model boat show yesterday seemed very interested in the sub and would like to say many thanks to him for his help yesterday and would also like to say thanks to Tony and Graham for getting the sub in to the water as i would not have been able to have done it with out there help, also thanks to any one else that should interest it was nice to meet a nice bunch of people
John

Sub driver · « **Reply #416 on:** September 09, 2013, 10:37:00 pm »

12 foot long and they still couldnt see it.... ????

Hope they werent driving home .

sub john · « **Reply #417 on:** September 10, 2013, 10:48:39 am »

HI Sub driver
It does seem hard to believe that some one can not see a 12ft sub in the water about 4ft away, and still ends up running over the deck. Spent most of yesterday running around trying to get all the bits to repair all the damage, but when you have to make every rail post from scratch it takes a lot of time. I am still very p----d off about it now

Have got some bits of video of trying the sub will try to get it posted up today if i get time only trouble is Pauline video this you might have been better off using a blind camera man she will give me a slap for this but never mind.

sub john · « **Reply #418 on:** September 10, 2013, 05:50:00 pm »

video bits of the testing of the sub on sunday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWoahGnM9fY&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_1U5w_NI6c&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBn2WA631bs&feature=youtu.be

hope you all enjoy the watch thanks

GAZOU · « **Reply #419 on:** September 10, 2013, 07:20:32 pm »

have you received it the torpedo?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_1U5w_NI6c&feature=youtu.be

Sub driver · « **Reply #420 on:** September 10, 2013, 11:44:57 pm »

One torpedo and both legs..amazing accuracy.

. Hehe.

Looked good john...very brave, too many fast boats there for me, disaster waiting to happen, saw 1 nearly got you on the vid.
Hope the repaires dont take too long....been there done that im afraid to say.
Regards sub.

Subculture · « **Reply #421 on:** September 11, 2013, 10:45:03 am »

Exactly what i was thinking, all those fast deep-vees charging about the lake- not a good mix!

sub john · « **Reply #422 on:** September 11, 2013, 05:00:35 pm »

HI Sub driver
Yes i must admit i did notice that one of the other boats was not far off hitting the sub. I will not be putting it back on the water unless there is no model boats racing around the lake must admit it is a recipe for things going wrong. Ended up all day yesterday making a new sonar that got broke off, i must admit i thought it looked good on the water but the basic idea was just to get it trimmed up was hoping to take it to Norwich this week end but it will not be going as repairs have to be done first, i can not believe how long it takes just to make the bits.

But i hope to be taking it to shows next year
JOHN

sub john · « **Reply #423 on:** September 12, 2013, 12:41:18 pm »

hi all thought id post pictures up of the damage to my boat

here is the pic of the new sonar as this part floated off and couldn't be found

derekwarner · « **Reply #424 on:** September 13, 2013, 12:40:36 am »

John....a little of thread

...I am sorry to hear that it was a steam vessel that caused the damage....following this, I too would be reluctant repeat a mixed vessel launching in the same area
a. is the decking real wooden planked?
b. if so, what sort of glue? & what type of sealer?
...polyurethane & polyurethane?.....that is certainly some sized vessel......

...Derek

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Author Topic: My 12 foot Gato class submarine! (Read 265883 times)