Design and development of an autonomous underwater vehicle test-bed (USM-AUV I)

In this paper, the development of an underwater robotic vehicle is described. The description includes the mechanical and controller design, and the sensor integration. The vehicle has been designed to have a dimension 1.0 m long, 0.7 m wide and with a mass of 30 kg. The USM-AUV I was designed mainly for testing conventional and advanced control algorithms. The vehicle directional control was performed by two thrusters in the horizontal plane while depth control by two thrusters in the vertical plane. There are several sensors which are used as feedback elements for the vehicle control system of vehicle. The AUV is also equipped with camera for monitoring purposes. This pan-tilt-zoom camera mounted in the upper enclosure, serves to assist in the close up viewing of objects without moving the whole vehicle. For beginning, this research is limited to a depth between 0 - 50 meters.