Design and Testing of a Spherical Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Shipwreck Interior Exploration
Loading...
Authors
Eldred, Ross
Lussier, Johnathan
Pollman, Anthony
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2021-03
Date
2021-03
Publisher
MDPI
Language
Abstract
This article details the design, construction and implementation of a novel, spherical unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype for operations within confined, entanglement-prone marine environments. The nature of shipwreck interiors, the exploration of which the vehicle was originally designed, imposes special risks that constrain system requirements while promoting other attributes uncommon in typical open-water UUV designs. The invention, the Wreck Interior Exploration Vehicle (WIEVLE), was constructed using 3-D additive manufacturing technology combined with relatively inexpensive commercial components. Similar inventions are compared, followed by a thorough review of the physical and functional characteristics of the system. The key attributes of the design include a smooth, spherical hull with 360-degree sensor coverage, and a fixed, upward-angled thruster core, relying on inherent buoyancy to take the place of a dedicated depth-changing mechanism. Initial open-loop control testing demonstrated stable 4 degrees of freedom (DOF) maneuvering capability. The article concludes with an overview of the results of the initial testing, a review of how the key system design attributes address the unique shipwreck interior exploration challenges, and a plan for the future development of the platform.
Type
Article
Description
17 USC 105 interim-entered record; under review.
Series/Report No
Department
Systems Engineering (SE)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
This research was funded by the Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, USA.
Format
27 p.
Citation
Eldred, Ross, Johnathan Lussier, and Anthony Pollman. "Design and Testing of a Spherical Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Shipwreck Interior Exploration." Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 9.3 (2021): 320.
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.