ROV Control System with BLDC Speed Controllers

Project Introduction:

My name is Matt Vlasaty and I am a student from Hoffman Estates High School in Illinois. I am the leader of my school's underwater robotics team. We will be participating in the Ranger class of the 2018 MATE ROV competition.

Our previous ROV control system designs have consisted of many separate boards, some custom and some purchased. We have designed a single PCB capable of controlling all of the electronics for our ROV. Our design consists of a primary microcontroller and 6 sensorless BLDC motor speed controllers.

Technical Details:

The primary controller is an ATMega328 with an Arduino Uno layout. A WIZ820io Ethernet module allows for top-side communication with a host computer. I2C is used for communication between the ATMega328 and the 6 speed controllers. The speed controllers each use an ATMega8 microcontroller for sensorless commutation of a BLDC motor with BEMF sensing. Each of the 3 phases of the motor is driven by an IR2101 driver and a pair of N-channel MOSFETs.

Words to PCBWay:

Our goal was to create a single integrated control board for our ROV. PCBWay's services can make our design a reality.

Here is a video of a working prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7sMy3vSCRc