Boxfish ROV Owner’s Manual
p53
V1.3 All rights reserved. Information and specifications may change at any time without notice.
11
Battery management
In the water there are a lot of variables that will affect the length of time you will
get out of a full battery charge; we will list some of these below.
Monitoring battery usage
Use the Battery data on the telemetry screen to see how much battery is
remaining. The trend line will give you clues as to what functions are draining
the battery faster than others.
Note that it takes practice to become accustomed to how the ROV functions
affect how much time you get out of a full battery charge.
Variables that affect battery usage
Variables that you as ROV Pilot and tether operator can control are:
Speed of thrusters using the thrust control thumb wheel
How far you push the joysticks in each direction
LED illumination lights
Tether cable drag – there is excess tether cable in the water causing drag
weight
Tether cable tension – there is too much tension on the tether cable causing
the ROV to work against it.
Some external variables affecting battery life are:
Current
Swell
Depth / visibility (and therefore use of lights).
Limits
Aim to be back at the surface with 14.7V remaining in the batteries.
Note that the ROV will automatically shut down its thrusters between 14.3 and
14.1V, and it will power off completely at 13.7V to preserve its batteries.
Avoid discharging the ROV batteries completely as it is dangerous and will
reduce the life of the battery.
