A low-speed control module for a streamlined AUV

• Published in: Proceedings of OCEANS 2005 MTS/IEEE pp. 1680 - 1685 Vol. 2
• Main Authors: Nickell, C.L., Woolsey, C.A., Stilwell, D.J.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2005
• Subjects: Actuators; Aerospace control; Aerospace engineering; Guidelines; Remotely operated vehicles; Robustness; Sea surface; Size control; Underwater vehicles; Weight control
• ISBN: 0933957343; 9780933957343
• ISSN: 0197-7385
• DOI: 10.1109/OCEANS.2005.1639997

Streamlined autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are typically designed to operate at a nominal speed. Control surfaces are sized to meet control requirements near this operating condition. Occasionally, the need arises for a vehicle to operate at a lower speed, for example, to perform an inspection task. Because hydrodynamic forces and moments decrease quadratically with speed, there is generally some minimum speed below which a streamlined AUV can not operate. If the vehicle is slightly buoyant, for example, it may be incapable of generating sufficient down-force to maintain depth. This paper describes the use of a moving mass actuator (MMA) module to augment control of an existing streamlined AUV in order to obtain a lower minimum operating speed. In some scenarios, as described in the paper, the MMA may be combined with a fixed wing to generate additional lift. The results of analysis include sizing guidelines for control surfaces and MMA modules and a technique for estimating the minimum controllable speed