Mini DIY R.O.V. Submersible

This is a great, easy, weekend project! I am entering this into the robot challenge and I am 13 so I will be competing for the 13-18 age group.

So, this little submersible uses 3 DC motors and a nine volt battery. It controls the three motors with three buttons. It's frame is built from lego-type things. It is very simple and great for kids to learn. Although you will need some sort of supervision because the project involves a soldering iron.

Step 1Parts and Tools!

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There aren't too many things involved and if you take things apart a lot like me, you should have most of these things. I will also attach Radioshack links next to the parts that they may carry.

Parts-
(3) Push buttons or switches  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062495
(3) DC Motors (at least two have to be the same)  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102822
(?) I built my frame out of pieces from a physics workshop kit, but as long as it holds the motors and isn't too heavy, anything should work
(1)  9V battery connector, or if your using different voltages, a different battery holder. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062218
(4) Empty Film Canisters. These will hold the air that will float the ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) back to surface.
(3) Propellers. These go on the motors to propel the ROV. I found one off an old model plane and two laying around.
(1) Some solder. Most anything should work. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4314832&filterName=Type&filterValue=Solder
(1) Some hot glue.

Tools- 
Soldering Iron. anything should do. Just needed to solder a few pieces together. Make sure you have permission to use this.
Hot Glue Gun. I used this to glue to film canisters and the motors onto the frame.
Helping Hands. These work REALLY good. I used kind of a make do one, but these help when your trying to solder something.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4314832&filterName=Type&filterValue=Solder
A Bath Tub. Something to test it in.
(Optional) Wire Strippers

Step 2Put Together The Frame

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One you gave gathered all of your materials, you are ready to begin constructing the frame of the ROV. It must have an area on the top to glue four film canisters. It also needs an area in the middle on the bottom for the motor that propels downward and two areas on the bottom for the motors that propel forward. Use my frame design to make yours.

Step 3Assembling The Motors

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Before you attach the motors to the frame, add very long leads to the positive sides of the motors. The negative sides only have to be about 4 inches. It also helps if you use different colored wires to the positive and negative side. Once you have the leads on, use a hot glue gun to glue your propellers onto all three motors.

Now, use a battery and touch one lead of a motor to the positive side and the other to the negative. Note which leads went to which sides of the battery. When the propeller turns on make sure it is blowing air. If it is not, switch the leads on the battery. When it blows air designate the wire going to the negative side of the battery as "ground" and the positive as "positive". Make sure you do not get these mixed up.

Now, glue the 3 motors you collected onto the frame. The two that propel forward have to be the same and the one that propels down can be any size. Glue all three into the areas designated for them. Make sure the downward propelling motor is in the middle of the bottom of the frame and that the other two are on the back.

Step 4Wiring

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You should have all of the motors securely fastened onto the frame. Now, take all of the leads you designated as "ground" and solder them all together. There should be three. Next solder a very long wire (depending on the depth you want it to go) to the joint you just soldered. This is the ground wire.
Next grab those three buttons you got. If you have one of those helping hands, clip the button to it. There should be three little leads of metal on the bottom of the button. When the button is pressed down, it connects the two right leads and when it's up, it connects the left two. So we want to connect the motor lead to the middle and the battery to the right so when it is pressed down, it connects the battery to the motor and it spins. So as I said, solder the positive motor leads to the middle of each button.
Once a button is soldered to each positive motor lead, we can start with the battery. Grab your 9V battery clip. It should have one red and one black wire coming out of it. The red is the positive and the black is the negative. Strip the ends of each of these wires. On the positive wire, solder on three 5 inch wires. So now there should be 3 positive wires and one negative one. Grab that one "ground" wire you connected to all of the motor negatives and solder that to the negative wire coming out of the battery clip. Now get all of the buttons you just soldered. The positive motor lead should be connected to the middle lead. Solder one of the positive wires coming from the battery clip to the right lead of each button.
So now you should have everything connected and no open wires. If you do reread this step. You can test that you did everything right by putting in the battery and pressing the buttons. Make sure that each motor runs. Almost done!

Step 5Finishing Up

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Now find where you want to put your film canisters and hot glue them to the frame. Make sure they are centered so it is not tipsy.
Once you have them on, your ready to test it out! Put it in a bath tub or something to test it! If it is back heavy, you may need to add quarters into the from film canisters.
I hope you really enjoyed reading or making this project. I learned a lot myself and had fun. Please Vote For This In The Robot Challenge!!! Thanks!

 

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Louder volume on Android Asus Transformer

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Our great Asus Eeepad Transforme is proberly one of the best tablets right now  and it work perfect. There is only one small problem. The internal speakersound is not the best. The problem is, that the small speakers is placed in a the wrong way, turning against the screen and without enough  free space, so all the sound is getting strangle  !

My instruction show how you place the speaker in a more correct way and  how to make speaker grill with real holes, for a louder sound

FIRST:  Please visit those sites, that shows step by step,  how you open the Transformer TF101 for working  with the  hardware inside.

TEXT :   http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/itdojo/asus-eee-pad-transformer-teardown-convoluted-but-3g-ready-internal-design/2833?tag=content;siu-container


PHOTOS: http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-the-asus-eee-pad-transformer-tf101/6270147?seq=2&tag=siu-container

Please notice

1. Open case:  the Transformer has two external screws.  The screws hold the Transformer’s front bezel in place–not the back cover. Once you remove the bezel, there are several more screws holding the back cover in place. Opening the Transformer’s case is not difficult.
2. Standard screws: Asus did not use any tamper-resistant screws on the Transformer. The unit two external screws have Torx T5 heads and all the external screws have Phillips #000 heads.
3. Battery can be replaced (but not easily): The 3300 mAh, 24Wh Li-Polymer battery can be replaced, and you don’t need to remove the motherboard to do so. You will however, need to disconnect several cables, remove a few pieces of tape, and pry the battery loose from the internal frame. Asus could have made the process more complicated, but not much.

Step 1Speaker grill

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Locate the area where the back of the speaker is placed. Clean the area where you shall drill. It shall be flat and clean

Step 2Make speakergrill holes

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Use some kind of stencil to make good looking holes.  I have taken a metalgrill from a old PC speaker and cut it in the right size. Use  lot of tape to fix it in place. Drill from inside. The drill and holes in the stencil should be the same size. I have chosen  6 X 23 millimetre as the grill area,  that is near the same size of the inside  speaker, but if you like another design its not a problem.  Use a  permanent marker to colour the area where you want to drill, then its more easy to see where to drill.

Step 3Clean holes

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Remove the stencil and use a sharp knife to clean the inside area. Use a bigger drill to clean outsite holes. Be very carefully in this step, for best result.

Step 4Protect speaker with textil

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Use small pieces of black  textile to and protect the inside speaker and darkness the holes. Fix it with a few drops of glue

Step 5Turn around the speaker

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  As you can see is the speaker turning against the screen original (!) which seem to be very strange..

Take out the speaker and turn it around , You have to use a sharp knife to change to a new angel in plastic on backside of the speaker . It can take some time to do it,  but are not difficult

Do the same with the other site... Be careful with the small wires.


TIPS
There is a  known small problem with low sound level in the left speaker. The amplifier in Asus Tranformer is very weak and therefore  thicker wires to the left speaker will could make them sound louder.

Remember NOT to use any heat or soldering near or on  the speaker itself  The ultrafine copper wire inside the speaker will smelt!. Cut the wire minimum 10-15 millimetre from the speaker input  and use those as terminal, when you soldering

Step 6Congratulation

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Congratulation

You are now near finish with the project.

As you can see, the speaker is  placed in the new directions and will now  could play load and clear without any disturb.  When you hold the tablet in landscape mode, the inside of your hand will be like a trumpet, that  will amplified the sound and direct it to your ears.

Reverse tear down and enjoy the new loud sound from our great Asus Transformer

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