Underwater platform builds
ROV component kits for underwater vehicle builds
Most underwater vehicle projects do not fail on any single part. They fail where two parts meet — a 300 m thruster on a 100 m housing, a bulkhead with one hole too few, a vehicle that floats when it was meant to hover. This page is about buying the parts as a set that agrees with itself.
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Why buy as a set
The vehicle is only as deep as its shallowest part.
Every wetted item on an ROV carries its own pressure rating, and the vehicle's real rating is the lowest one in the chain — thrusters, housing, end caps, penetrators, connectors, sensors and the O-rings between them. A single 100 m component on an otherwise 300 m vehicle makes a 100 m vehicle, and it is usually discovered during a pressure test rather than during procurement.
The same applies to the electrical side. Thruster stall current sets the wiring and the fusing; the bus voltage decides how much thrust those thrusters will actually produce; the number of separately switched circuits decides how many conductors have to pass through the bulkhead, and therefore how many penetrators the end cap needs holes for. Deciding those together is far cheaper than machining a second end cap.
Buying the parts as a coordinated group is not about a discount. It is about the interfaces being settled once, at the point where changing them still costs nothing.
What goes into it
The parts, and where each one is listed.
Propulsion
Brushless marine thrusters in non-ESC and integrated-ESC variants, with matched heavy-duty aluminium propellers in clockwise and counter-clockwise pairs.
Pressure housings
Acrylic and aluminium tube enclosures with end caps, clamps, internal trays and shelves for mounting electronics inside the housing.
Getting wires through the wall
Penetrators for permanent runs and wet-mateable connectors for anything that has to come apart on deck. Count these early: they decide the end-cap drilling.
Sensing and feedback
Depth and temperature sensors that thread into the same M8, M10 and M14 ports as the rest of the range, so the housing drilling stays consistent.
Seeing and lighting
Cameras and dimmable lighting for inspection work. Lighting draws real current: size it into the power budget rather than adding it afterwards.
Trim and buoyancy
Solid buoyancy foam for setting the vehicle slightly positive, so a power failure ends with a recovery rather than a search.
Controls, indicators and assembly
Pressure-tolerant switches, potentiometers and displays, plus the O-rings, wrenches and picks that assembly actually needs on the bench.
Proving it before it goes in the water
Bench pressure testing for bulkheads and assembled housings. The cheapest leak is the one found in a test chamber.
Example builds
Three shapes a build usually takes.
Tank and trials platform
Teaching labs, pool testing, first builds
- Four thrusters in a vectored horizontal layout, plus one vertical
- One acrylic tube enclosure with end caps and clamp set
- Electronic tray set to mount the controller and power inside the tube
- Penetrators for thruster runs, plus a spare gland for later additions
- Depth sensor, spare O-ring set and an installation wrench
Inspection-class ROV
Port, dam, hull and tank inspection work
- Six thrusters — four vectored horizontal, two vertical for heave
- Matched clockwise and counter-clockwise aluminium propellers
- Pressure housing with penetrators sized for thrusters, camera, lighting and tether
- Camera and dimmable LED lighting, budgeted into the power calculation
- Depth and temperature sensing, and buoyancy foam to trim slightly positive
Instrumented research platform
Oceanographic sampling, bottom landers, long deployments
- Propulsion sized for station-keeping in current rather than forward speed
- Housing with internal shelving for stacked instrumentation
- Wet-mateable connectors on anything that must be swapped between deployments
- Depth, temperature and switched-circuit feedback brought out to indicators
- Bench pressure testing before the first deployment, and a spares set for the field
These are shapes, not part lists. Thruster count, housing size and penetrator count all move with the vehicle you are actually building, and the depth rating is set by whichever item in the chain is rated lowest. Send the requirement and we will come back with a specific list.
Selection criteria
What decides the answer.
Operating depth
Fix it first and apply it to every wetted item, including sensors, switches and the O-rings. Quote the depth you will actually work at, not the depth you hope to reach eventually — a rating you will not use costs money on every part in the chain.
Bus voltage
Thrust figures are quoted at a rated voltage. The same thruster on a 12 V bus produces well under its 24 V figure, so decide the voltage before reading any thrust number, and check the wiring and fusing against stall current rather than running current.
Penetrator and connector count
Add up every conductor that has to cross the bulkhead — thrusters, lighting, camera, sensors, tether — and add spare holes now. Retrofitting a penetrator means machining a fitted end cap.
Buoyancy and trim
Weigh the build in air and work out the displaced volume before ordering foam. Aim slightly positive so a lost vehicle surfaces, and keep the trim adjustable rather than sealing the ballast in.
Serviceability
Decide what has to come apart on deck, in the field, with cold hands. That is the line between a penetrator and a connector, and it is a maintenance decision more than a technical one.
Before you enquire
What to have ready.
An enquiry carrying these can usually be answered the same day. One without them takes three emails to get to the same place.
- Operating depth, and whether that is the working depth or the test depth
- Vehicle size, dry mass and rough frame layout
- Payload — camera, lighting, sampler, instrumentation
- Power arrangement: tethered or battery, and the bus voltage
- Tether length and what has to pass through it
- Which components you already have, and which you need
- Quantity, delivery location and when you need it
Questions
Asked often enough to answer here.
Do you sell a complete, ready-built ROV?
We supply the components. If you want the vehicle built, that is engineering work rather than a parts order — see underwater ROV and AUV engineering.
Can I order a single part instead of a kit?
Yes. Every item on this page is available on its own; the kit framing is about getting the interfaces to agree, not a minimum order.
How do I work out the depth rating I need?
Take the deepest point you will actually operate at and apply it to every wetted item. The vehicle is rated at the lowest-rated part in the chain, so there is no benefit in one item being rated deeper than the rest.
Why are there no prices on this page?
Contact us to get exact pricing. Each order is quoted individually.
Can you help choose the parts?
Yes — that is what the enquiry is for. Send the operating depth, vehicle size, payload and power arrangement and we will come back with suitable options.
Are datasheets available?
The manufacturer datasheet for any product is available on request; ask for it in the same enquiry.
Further reading
Guides and calculators on this subject.
Request a quotation
Planning an ROV or underwater research platform?
Send your operating depth, vehicle size, payload, power arrangement and required components through our existing quotation form. The Vebix team will review the requirement and confirm suitable product options.
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Or call +91 97028 20020.