Application Study on Compact Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

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A compact AUV(Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) is capable of performing several challenging functions and enables it to be used by a limited number of persons. Usually underwater vehicles are equipped with many thrusters. The thruster control mechanism is complicated and this takes a larger weight ratio, making the AUV larger and heavier. We developed a compact and light AUV by employing one VARIVEC propeller. The VARIVEC propeller system is configured utilizing the radio control helicopter elements, which are swash plate and DC servos. VARIVEC propeller can generate six components including thrust, lateral force and moment by changing periodically the blade angle of the propeller during one revolution. In this control system, we have implemented three modules, which include : Receiver control module: This module controls the reception of the mission command from support vessel and the transponder for positioning system. Sensor control module: This module controls the various sensors data acquisition for autonomous navigation. Propeller control module : This module controls the final decision of mission command and generates the control data for VARIVEC propeller system using the programmable logic device circuits. Each module utilizes one-chip microcomputer (Hitachi SH-2) as the distributed control system for the AUV. We have used the electronic compass, collision avoidance sonar, depth sensor and GPS receiver for autonomous navigation. The AUV also can communicate with the support team at the surface of the sea via NTT DoCoMo's DOPA network. We have implemented fuzzy and neural network program as a soft computing controller. Furthermore, we designed the PID controller in order to investigate the navigation ability of the AUV. To evaluate the compact AUV, we have carried out the autonomous navigation experiments in the shallow sea. Experimental results using soft computing are indicated the effectiveness of our approach and the AUV could move along the target path.