OpenROV Data Display

Open ROV VR Cockpit

            In 201X the OpenROV company released their idea on Kickstarter for a DIY underwater drone to explore the ocean.  In an Interview with the company’s co-founder David Lang he stated “five years ago the team just wanted to explore underwater caves in search of gold, but in the time since then, they’ve shipped 1,600 underwater robot kits to 50 different countries, prototyped and experimented with numerous new designs, and built a community of similarly minded underwater enthusiasts online” (Love, 2015). Their campaign was a huge success and the evolution of the design began to grow in sophistication both in terms of performance, and available data. What makes the platform special is the fact that it is open source, which means its software and development is wholly supported by its community of users.

One recent addition to the Open ROV platform is the OpenROV VR Cockpit which displays valuable data to the operator directly to a virtual display on the user’s smart device or Oculus Rift VR headset (see figure 1). “Open-source software allows drone pilots to control the Trident from a virtual cockpit on their smartphones, laptops, and tablets” (Schwartz, 2015). The company is continuing to improve the way the data is delivered to the operator and is looking at futuristic ways to improve the user experience.  “We have a prototype virtual reality cockpit that will blow your mind. It’s like in ‘Minority Report’ or ‘Iron Man’ (SCHWARTZ, 2015) The company’s most recent addition to their product line up is a handheld controller with a built-in display. It is based around the traditional Xbox controller that was often used to control the drone, with an android tablet in the center to provide a live feed from the ROV and display important data concerning the drone’s orientation, depth, speed, pitch, roll and yaw angles and much more.

Figure 1. The prototype Open ROV Trident controller available on Kickstarter. The unit pictured above is a beta unit and does not appear to be running the same Cockpit display traditionally used in the computer interface which can be seen in Figure 2. Retrieved from https://discourse-cdn-sjc1.com/business6/uploads/openrov/optimized/2X/4/484b7c1fd2b6cdca5b795656266aec25dd66214a_1_690x324.jpg

Figure 2.  Open ROV cockpit display. Layed out very similar to an aircraft featuring the artificial horizon, depth indicator, and data from multiple onboard sensors available on the right-hand side of the display. There is also battery life monitoring, current draw, and time elapsed counters. Image adapted from youtube video retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1T8Zax GiZg

Some of the challenges that people experience with their displays, including the new trident handheld controller include the effect of sun glare on the screen. This is a problem very familiar to most UAS operators as well who can sometimes find shade under a tree or awning. Operating the trident often positions the pilot in direct sunlight, making this a real problem. The problem exists on nearly every type of screen display in direct sunlight. Recommendations for improvements include the addition of a sun visor over the handheld controller or inclusion of a brighter display. Many of these concerns are resolved when using a virtual reality display like the Oculus Rif, a wearable headset (see figure 3). Co-founder of the company, David Lang, is passionate about the user experience.  “We can go deeper, stay down longer, go more dangerous places, and do it all with a VR interface while sitting in your own personal submarine. A personal submarine is mind-blowingly cool” (Love, 2015)  The implementation of virtual reality is a huge step forward for this technology and will allow pilots a much clearer view of the important data being displayed.

Figure 3. A woman controlling the OpenROV Trident using the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Retrieved from https://www.dailydot.com/wp-content/uploads/9a7/b4/be8fdc4e00d9b24b5 78d720b136c2a0a_original.jpg

References

Love, D. (2015, February 25). We know embarrassingly little about the ocean, so here's an underwater drone for everyone. Retrieved from https://www.dailydot.com/debug/underwater-drone-kickstarter-trident/

Schwartz, A. (2015, October 04). This sleek underwater drone might be your best shot at finding sunken treasures. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/openrov-underwater-drone-for-ocean-exploring-2015-9