Adventure-I: A mini-AUV prototype for education and research

In this paper, we present the “Adventure-I” mini-AUV prototype developed for educational and research tasks. The mini-AUV is simply equipped with one main propeller and two rudders, without any vertical and lateral thrusters. First, the whole structure and the main dimension of the “Adventure-I” mini-AUV is described. Second, the detailed specifications of the hardware system are illustrated, including the onboard controller, sensors and power supply. Subsequently, the control system of the mini-AUV is introduced with the surface monitoring station and the onboard control part. Finally, the experiment of straight-line path following is performed in the swimming pool and the field results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the developed mini-AUV prototype.