Making Your ROV Buoyant

Buoyancy vs. Ballast Buoyancy Ballast The ability to float in water. Weight added to reduce buoyancy

How buoyant? Positive Buoyancy – Enough buoyancy to make something float on water surface Negative Buoyancy – Lack of buoyancy causing an object to sink Neutral Buoyancy – Enough buoyancy to make an object float in the middle of the water column

Should your rov be buoyant? You want your ROV to be close to neutrally buoyant But it should be just slightly positively buoyant Why? In case your tether breaks, your ROV will eventually come to the surface

Where to position buoyancy and ballast Buoyancy on top Ballast on bottom You want a large distance between your center of gravity (CB) and your center of buoyancy (CB)