So, just to put it out there, this underwater drone project has actually probably been in the works for approximately a few months already, but progress has been pretty up and down due to schoolwork so I'm only starting the blog now, during the summer. These first few posts will mainly be comprised of condensed summaries of my general thought process, progress, and lessons learned. Hope you enjoy and learn something!

I started the whole thing by just organizing my thoughts. Like I said earlier, I had no clue what components I would even need in such a drone, so I began listing key mechanisms and electronics, and anything I knew about them. I started with the more mechanical stuff, which I was a lot more comfortable with considering my experience with FRC CAD, and then moved onto the electronics which I was less familiar with.

Here's what I came up with:

• Motors for thrust, oriented both in the up-down and front-back orientations to capture all degrees of freedom. (but mainly emphasizing the forward component)

• A compact, strong, and waterproof housing for all of my electronics—I knew this would be some kind of acrylic or polycarbonate tube, based on what I had seen in the designs of other ROVs online. A tube also just made sense because it would be able to better distribute the pressure from water at greater depths.

• A camera for the front of the drone, so that I would be able to navigate and observe underwater. Probably would also need to be protected in a separate tube

• A 3D printed shell/housing to make the drone hydrodynamic and keep all the components protected.

• I knew from the drone I had seen online that it included two key electronic components—the Pixhawk Flight Controller and a Raspberry Pi, though I really didn't know what they did or how to work with them.

• Some kind of battery pack that would provide the necessary voltage for motors, which I had already decided I wanted to be strong for a fast drone.

• ESCs for motors

• Some kind of long tether cable that would allow my drone to connect to my computer, allowing for better communication.
  

Overall, the most important thing I learned from this initial planning phase was that you don’t need to be an expert on something to get started on it; I still have no clue what the flight controller or Raspberry Pi even do, or why I even need them, but at least now everything is down on paper and ready to be researched further.