Dual ROV Thrusters (side mount)

I'm using Blue Robotics T200 thrusters and the Thruster Commander Motor Controller.

Previous testing: 2 ROV Thrusters on the rudder:  super cool but cannot be cleaned on the water, strong ocean 'stuff' jams them.

2 ROV Thrusters off the side:  easy to deploy and take out of the water, 4mph wide open, up to 6mph adding strong pedaling, half thrusters + smooth pedaling- over 4mph all day long.

40amp-hr estimate: wide open no pedaling (4mph)- at least 2 hours.  half throttle + pedaling (4+ mph)- 8 hours.
Unlimited battery: 100amp-hr mini (adds 10#).

Short video from test at Siltcoos:

https://youtu.be/mlG2czyvtVQ?si=jhmBnAPHcpoDrNdv

That is really a GREAT setup!! I like that you have the use of the mirage drive AND the use of thrusters combined and that you can reach the thrusters easily when on the water.
Can you vary the output of the thrusters or is it full power or nothing?

This is a great example of Yankee ingenuity   

That is really a GREAT setup!! I like that you have the use of the mirage drive AND the use of thrusters combined and that you can reach the thrusters easily when on the water.
Can you vary the output of the thrusters or is it full power or nothing?

fully variable, easy to set trolling speed, little blue knob on the left side, where the volt meter and safety shutoff are, is use the voltage as a guide, 13.1V is full batteries, 12.5V is half throttle, 12.1V is wide open. 

these T200 actually make maximum thrust at 16V but can be damaged by 24V.  So I'm giving up a bunch of thrust (~30% more) by using low cost LiFePO4 batteries.   

I'm at the point where I'm looking at this setup as something to build for the days I don't particularly want to spend hours pedaling. Any advice or if you had to do this all over again would there be anything you'd change?

I would have jumped straight to this set-up and not messed with trying them on the rudder or even the AutoBoat system. (I just don't need the e-anchoring that much and regular trolling motors just add too much drag).  I got out on the ocean twice in late July for long outings with this set-up and just love it, great at part throttle to let me go 4.5miles all day in an Outback or wide open to rest and still be going 4. 

The have released a T500 thruster that offers 3x the thrust of the T200, so I might have gone with 1 of those.

https://bluerobotics.com/store/thrusters/t100-t200-thrusters/t500-thruster/

It's important to keep the Thruster Controller dry, I burned one up quickly when some salt water go in it, my second one has been fine, I got it all wired up and then encased it in silicon marine sealer stuff.  and definitely use a safety shutoff.

https://www.robotshop.com/products/thruster-commander-motor-controller?srsltid=AfmBOopV1-aCzwxAQEcWtGuVIZBn7M_ycN7fu0afJvvwSuskGekrdx4P

as for the Outback, I got so spoiled having Pepper's 75# on the back, made this comparison to the original Outback years ago, you can see why the new hull design performs better with weight in the back.  these thrusters help me without Pepper by giving me an excuse to put my 19# 100amp-hr battery way at the back of the deck (way more battery than needed), and when she's with me, like she will be soon for fall salmon, I use a pair of orange 4.5# 20amp-hr batteries at the front of the rear deck (it takes a long day of heavy thruster use to use these up).





 

Roger, do you pull your drive while under power? I'd think that would make the most sense and reduce unwanted drag.

Roger, do you pull your drive while under power? I'd think that would make the most sense and reduce unwanted drag.

nope, the Mirage drive adds so little drag it just isn't necessary, I've tested it more than once, no change in speed without the drive and with or without a drive dummy plug in place.  You can see from that side image I posted, they tucked the drive upwards into the hull an inch or so in the 2019 Outback design, that certainly helped reduce drag.

I also like to be pedaling most of the time, or using the drive to rest my feet on.

that Mirage drive location change in the 2019 Outback is another reason that I have been hoping for an updated Revo13 hull design.

it's easy to see in this image that the Mirage Drive hangs down under the Revo13 more than it needs to.  on a sleek, fast boat, I think that extra drag matters. 

My dream new Revo13:  change to a drop down rudder, shift that Mirage drive up an inch or so, add steering control on both sides, do some CFD modeling and tweak the hull at the front to cut drag a bit and then add maybe 3/4" to 1" of width to up the secondary stability just a bit...and a strip of gear trax down each side up front.   

This my solution with Texas paddle system, seems to really work well, similar to the thruster youre  using