dlucerod

Howdy all -

I'm new to RC, and I need some help. (Don't worry, I read the before you ask stupid questions forum). I'm a swim coach for a local high school and club team, and I want to set up an underwater camera system for stroke analysis & feedback. Only a few companies offer this kind of merch, and its mad expensive, so I'm trying to see what I can't put together on my own/ with the help of the internet!

My goal is something similar to this:

http://www.orcaswimtracker.com/Video.html

I've got a GoPro Hero 3 camera with the underwater housing and all the toys, and I may be looking into making custom housing so that I can run some cables up and out of the water (to eliminate the downtime from taking the camera out, plugging it in, uploading the vids, etc.)

Here's my basic info:
I've driven RC cars but nothing more than the Walmart Xmas present kid's stuff.
My budget is flexible up to ~$500 I would say, but I'm willing to consider anything.
The pool has a gutter with a lip, which would create an easy track to drive straight forward and backward.
It would need to be able to put out enough torque to push/pull a thin pipe/camera set up (~3 feet underwater) through the water. (I would more than likely drill it directly onto the car.)
The car wouldn't need to be in the water, but waterproofing/survivability very important. (I'd be willing to custom proof hardware and experiment)
I am comfortable building/experimenting, and there are several local hobby shops here.

I'm sorry I know that it's a very specific niche but if anybody has any ideas/comments/suggestions they would be greatly appreciated! The GoPro is great by the way, and in the future I'd definitely be interested in getting some footage from an RC car on land!

ps. I'm also open to ideas on how to set up the camera system itself, or any other recommendations - it's a big experiment that I hope to have worked out by this summer!

Thanks very much,
Danny

<br type="_moz" />

phmaximus

ok where to start.... well any car will do, everything will need waterproofing, Ie sealing up electronics, and replacing grease with water resistant grease and coating anything metal in it.

in this case bigger is going to be better. bigger wheels will give u a smoother video.

How wide is to wide to the edge part of the pool?

Here is a cheep chassis that will do the job, hopefully its not to big
[link=http://www.ebay.com/itm/HSP-Hammer-1-8-Scale-RTR-2-4GHz-Electric-RC-Rock-Crawler-Monster-Truck-/230937842834?pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Radio_Controlled_V ehicles&hash=item35c4f7d492]here[/link]

and here is a smaller chassis that might do the job
[link=http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-10-OFFROAD-4WD-BONZER-XT-CROSS-TIGER-MONSTER-TRUCK-RC-/190765448765?pt=US_Radio_Control_Control_Line&hash =item2c6a81be3d]here[/link]

Both will need to be water proofed and flotation devices fitted so they dont sink to the bottom, 2.5m needs a totally different approach for water proofing, so with a flotation
device u dont have to worry about anything deeper than 12"

Another thing I would do is lock up the suspension so it has the tiniest amount of movement on the side that faces the pool, that way the camera weight and drag wont
make the chassis lean over.

the 1st one i recommended should be spot on for speed, but the 2nd one might be to fast, so u will have to use desecration with throttle input or fit a gear reduction unit

as for the camera boom, I would be looking at a boom like a self leveling desk lamp, that way u can manually adjust the height of the camera with out effecting the tilt
like this....



it would be ideal if u could attach a view screen to the car, but i dont know if u can do that with the waterproofing housing fitted to the camera

dlucerod

Thanks so much for your reply! the gutter is about 11 inches across (closer to 11.2) with a lip of about 1 inch high, so I think both of those chassis would work. <div>
</div><div>You think that I might need to taper down the speed of the car even with the camera/boom creating drag through the water? That's good news actually - I was worried that I would have trouble finding something fast enough!</div><div>
</div><div>I'm not sure I can run a video screen on the car, although I am still looking at camera possibilities (I LOVE the GoPro, but I am also interested in a longer term, more convenient set up that I could maybe run wires from the camera underwater to a TV on land). </div><div>
</div><div>Any thoughts on tires? The car won't be submerged in any water, but the surface it will run on will be wet (not slippery though, it's made of that sort of serated-ish flooring so people don't slip at pools)</div><div>
</div><div>And lastly - if I go through all of the waterproofing methods successfully, are there pro-tips concerning daily drying and storage of the car, or habitual maintenance to add to its longevity?</div><div>
</div><div>Thanks so much, hopefully once I get everything figured out I can upload some pics/videos from the pool!</div>

phmaximus

oh thats not very wide...

and im having secong thoughts about that a rc will be heavy enough....

hummmm. need to think more...

phmaximus

another though im having is something tracked. like a Henglong tank. thats weighed down with some custom gearing and bigger motors. but even then its going to be a very custom rig

mkjohnston

My Feedback: (2)

Have you looked at the Thunder Tiger Neptune RC Submarine? I think it has enough room for a small camera in the nose section as its clear. but It only goes down so far before it automatic resurfaces. Also it uses an FM type RC control as the newer 2.4 ghz controls do not work under water due to the short wave length of the RF signal. Mind you that Neptune sells for about 700 bucks but its ready to run too heres the link http://www.towerhobbies.com look for the thunder tiger Neptune sub. This is just an idea Michael Johnston

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

This might do the trick

phmaximus

Ok I've put a lot of thought into it. And the awnser has been staring me in the face....

My kids have a electric peg pergo ride on train set.... It runs on tracks that easly dissamble and I'm 90% sure it uses standard 550 motor mount spacing.

My thought.... Get one of thse train sets, get some extra straight track and convert it to remote controll with brushless combo
Then modfy the chassis so it has sections that can be filled up with pool water to increase the weight so it's more stable with the drag of the camera boom. And make it so the sections can be drained back into the pool to save on transport weight

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

My LHS has that! But, then they are 600 dollars.
<br type="_moz" />

phmaximus

areu guys sure that sub would be fast enough?? Doesent look even close in speed compared to the video the OP linked

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

You're right. I didn't think about following a swimmer. Ienvisioned the camera being off to the side while the swimmer passes by and a RC submarine made for unwater photography seemed like a natural solution. Following makes more sense though, now that I give it more thought.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

I wondered about the drag of the boom in the water too.  That's not insignificant.
An RC car, by itself with just human guidance, trying to run perfectly straight, along side a swimming pool?  I seriously doubt it.
Before Max posted the kiddie train idea, I was gonna say that you'd need 'something' on a track.  Trying to make a car go straight enough for this would be hard enough going forward, but BACKWARDS?  Uh Uh. A track system of some kind would be a must have.