Small and handy submarines, for the explorer in you

OpenROV is a project that aims to open up the ocean to not just the adventurous but also hobbyists and educators. The project is led by NASA engineer Eric Stackpole, and promotes an open source underwater DIY robot. The underwater robot is capable of sinking to depths of up to 100 metres (although it has been tested only for 25m till date), runs on eight C-cell batteries for approximately 1.5 hours and has a speed of 1 m/s. The structure is made of a sealed cylinder within a laser-cut acrylic frame. The cylinder LED lights. It is tethered to a laptop on the shore by a single twisted pair of cables communicating 10 megabit Ethernet data for control and video. The robot can be piloted using a Web browser and video feed.

The open twist: You could either buy a complete kit from the website to build an OpenROV, or use the designs and list of materials needed to source whatever you need from a local electronics store. The design is organised into various sections, most of which can be readied within