Development of a control system for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

• Published in: 2010 IEEE/OES Autonomous Underwater Vehicles pp. 1 - 5
• Main Authors: Masmitja, I, Masmitja, G, Gonzalez, J, Shariat-Panahi, S, Gomariz, S
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-09-2010
• Subjects: Driver circuits; Humidity; Monitoring; Navigation; Optical fiber communication; Optical fiber sensors; Vehicles
• ISBN: 9781612849805; 1612849806
• ISSN: 1522-3167; 2377-6536
• DOI: 10.1109/AUV.2010.5779647

This work proposes the development of a control system for an autonomous underwater vehicle dedicated to the observation of the oceans. The vehicle, a hybrid between Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASV), moves on the surface of the sea and makes vertical immersions to obtain profiles of a water column, according to a pre-established plan. The displacement of the vehicle on the surface allows the navigation through GPS and telemetry communication by radio-modem. The vehicle is 2300mm long by 320mm wide. It weighs 85kg and reaches a maximum depth of 30m. A control system based on an embedded computer is designed and developed for this vehicle that allows a vehicle's autonomous navigation. This control system has been divided into navigation, propulsion, safety and data acquisition subsystems.