Conceptual Design of a Spherical Underwater Vehicle Equipped with Vertically Rotatable Thruster Units

This paper addresses a concept of a spherical autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with vertically rotatable thruster units. Compared to torpedo-type AUVs, the spherical AUV would have precise path following and close inspection abilities with high degrees-of-freedom motions and slow speed. While various underwater missions are being automated through improvements in AUV motion control methods, the spherical shape would further enhance the performance due to its simple hydrodynamic models that are beneficial for computer simulations. The spherical AUV consists of a main cubic unit that contains main computers, batteries, and proprioceptive sensors, and six surrounding units that contain either a propeller, a sampling device, sensors, or extra computers. The attachment of the six surrounding units at each surface of the main unit completes the AUV's spherical shape. The surrounding units are modularized and, therefore, can be substituted by other units to carry out different underwater missions.