REMOTE CONTROL SUBMARINE PROFESSIONAL

Models with dynamic diving are positively buoyant, and will remain on the surface until sufficient thrust is generated over their control surfaces to force them down beneath the water.

REMOTE CONTROL SUBMARINE PROFESSIONAL

The advent of small cheap computers such as the Raspberry Pi or Arduino has allowed model submariners to emulate their professional brethren and provide autonomous control in situations where radio transmission or adequate visibility is lacking. Quite commonly, such equipment has onboard computers which allow autonomous operation following a set path, so continuous communication with the controlling base is not necessary. Professional or military remote-controlled diving equipment may be controlled via a tether, or by using sound signals. Such specialist complexity usually makes a model submarine an expensive item compared to a model surface boat. Fail-safe systems which detect loss of signal and command the submarine to surface, or pressure sensors which limit the depth attained, may be used. Since control of model submarines may not be reliable at all times, such models usually carry a variety of apparatus intended to prevent model loss. Depending on water conditions, positive control can be maintained at perhaps 3 meters depth. Plastic covered wire provides adequate insulation - the aerial need not be held in an airtight container - but the cut end of such wire must be sealed against water ingress. Modern radio control sets using the 2.4GHz band penetrate water very poorly, and are thus not used by serious divers.įor underwater radio to work, even at these frequencies, the receiving aerial needs to be completely insulated from the surrounding water.

Penetration at these frequencies is easier in fresh water, but are difficult to impossible in sea water.

Military frequencies are well below allocated hobby radio control bands, but the lowest hobby bands - typically around 27MHz/40MHz - can penetrate several feet of water at short distances, typically less than 45 meters. As is well known communication with military submarines uses very low frequency electromagnetic radiation for this reason. High frequencies are also attenuated more than low frequencies, and tend to reflect off the surface of the water more. Radio transmission through water Īs the conductivity of a medium increases, the more a radio signal passing through it is attenuated.

Remote control submarine