Design and Development of An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle - Lapras
Design and Development of An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle - Lapras
Design and Development of An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle - Lapras
steps, by moving to the centre of the octagon, It makes precise cuts to the metal necessary to
till no bottle is left on the platform. manufacture the frame's intricate cavities and
edges. The frame is made up of aluminium
6061-T6 alloy, selected considering the harsh
working environment and operating conditions.
The bottom plate is attached to the base plate
using 2mm stainless steel L-brackets,
manufactured using sheet metal bending
operation. The mounts and fixtures for the hulls
are produced by FDM based 3D printing of
ABS material, chosen as it absorbs and dampens
the structural vibrations to acquire precise
dimensions and strength of the design. The base
plate holds the main hull, front camera hull, 4
heave thrusters, 2 sway thrusters, 4 heave
thrusters, torpedo launcher and gripper. Each
Figure 1.1 - Cad render of Lapras
side plate holds one surge thruster each. The
bottom plate holds the battery hull, bottom
II. DESIGN RATIONALE camera hull and dropper.
A. MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
FRAME
CUBOIDAL HULLS
The AUV has 4 hulls in total attached to its
frame. Except for the front camera hull, all the
hulls are cuboidal in shape. It is easier to store,
access and monitor electronic components in a
cuboidal hull as compared to cylindrical hulls, Figure 2.4 - Design render of Torpedo Launcher
where it was not possible to utilise the complete
volume in a clean way. The torpedo launcher system consists of two
parallel launch tubes, 3-D printed with springs
The main hull is mounted upon the frame with
mounted at their ends. The launch tubes are
the help of 4 wall mounts and 2 latches, here the
placed adjacent to each other to reduce the
latches secure the hull in place.
inaccuracy of the torpedo. The tubes are
The battery hull is made up of aluminium to attached to the frame with the help of 2 snap-fit
dissipate the heat generated by the buck attachments, this makes it easy to load the
converters. Thus eliminating the need for a torpedoes. The torpedoes are kept inside the
dedicated cooling system. launch tubes with the help of a circular
cross-section (obstruction plate) made up of
aluminium (6061-T6 alloy). The obstruction
THRUSTER PLACEMENT plate is controlled by a waterproof servo motor,
AUV has a total of 8 T200 thrusters, which are mounted above the launch tubes with the help of
placed as follows: latches for easy assembly. The servo motor
rotates by an angle of 30 degrees from the mean
● 4 heave thrusters are placed at the base position for a successful launch.
plate that controls the roll and pitch of
the AUV. The front of the torpedo is ellipsoidal. This
● 2 sway thrusters are placed at the bottom reduces the stress at the tip and thus protects
plate to control yaw. from deformations. The tapered cylindrical body
● 2 surge thrusters are placed at the side of the torpedo is ideal for reducing drag and
plates. mass simultaneously. The torpedo has 4 fins that
prevent any unwanted deviation from its
Overall the AUV has 6 degrees of freedom. trajectory.
The torpedo has a slenderness ratio of 14.66
Torpedo Coefficient of Drag:
2
𝐶𝑑*𝐴*ρ*𝑉
Drag Force = 2
2
𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡*𝑇
Vertical deviation = 2
DTU-AUV 4
0.3
𝑑𝑥
The dropper for the AUV holds two solid steel
T= ∫ 𝑉 balls (Markers) adjacent to each other, separated
0
by a partition. The markers are dropped by
2 2
2
𝐶𝑑*𝐴*ρ*𝑉 *𝑥 rotating a heart-shaped plate placed
Where, 𝑉 = 𝑉𝑙 − 𝑚 perpendicular to the dropper. The balls then free
0.3 𝐶𝑑*𝐴*ρ*𝑥
fall under the influence of gravity. The dropper
(1 + )𝑑𝑥
T= ∫ 𝑚 body is kept adjacent to the bottom camera for
2
0 𝑉𝑙 better mapping and accurate dropping. The
obstruction plate has a circular cut in the centre,
Where, which is designed to lower the total rotation
Cd = Coefficient of Drag made by the servo motor, which significantly
reduces any chance of failure. The servo motor
A = cross-sectional area of Torpedo has to rotate 30 degrees from the mean position
to release the marker. The markers are placed in
ρ = Density of Water
their respective cylindrical cavities, and a
V = instantaneous velocity of torpedo detachable cover is used to secure them from the
top. The dropper body is made up of ABS
VL = launch velocity of torpedo plastic and is manufactured by the 3-D printing
m = mass of torpedo process. This design is adopted as it takes up a
small amount of space and requires only one
T = total time travelled waterproof servo motor to operate.
Simulating the torpedo for speeds ranging 3. GRIPPER
between 0.25 m/s to 2m/s :
Cd = 0.091
Taking maximum vertical deviation to be 0.5
cm, the launch velocity comes out to be 0.46
m/s. The escape velocity of the torpedo is
around 0.46 m/s in water, this speed is sufficient
for the torpedo to hit the target from a safe
distance without any deviation and without
damaging anything in the environment.
2. DROPPER
Figure 2.6 Design Render of Gripper
For most of the manipulator designs we focussed on
workability and simplicity, thus the gripper for
Lapras is manufactured by 3-D printing, and the
material used is ABS plastic considering its high
strength to weight ratio. The gripper fingers have
toothed gears in contact with each other and are
constrained to rotate together. A servo motor is
mounted above the fingers, which provides torque
to the whole system. The shape of the fingers is
Figure 2.5 Design Render of Dropper triangular, with the internal surface slightly curved
inwards for easier gripping of circular and
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finger, which sheds off excess mass while retaining 2 Servo Motor (HS5646WP) 2.1A
structural rigidity and strength.
3 Intel NUC (NUC7i7BNH) 3.5A
B. ELECTRONICS DEPARTMENT 4 Arduino Mega 0.6A
The main hull houses all the electronic
components, and the lithium polymer batteries 5 Hydrophone (Teledyne 0.028A
have been placed in a separate hull. Multiple TC4014)
PCBs have been designed to reduce the wiring
6 MAX11043ATL 0.5926A
and make the connections more modular.
Individual PCBs have been designed for Power
distribution, Sensor and motor control and for Total current being drawn at all times =
cutting off and switching the batteries. 6 x (4A) + 1 x (2.1A) + (3.5A) + (0.6A) + 3 x
(0.028A) + 0.5926A = 30.8766A
1. Power
The Power Distribution Board (PDB) was custom
Total battery capacity = 10000 + 10000 mAH =
designed and had a buck converter for the servo
motors. The PDB enables us to power all the 20000mAH
electronics onboard. PDB distributes power to the
thrusters, servo motors, Intel NUC through the Ideal operating time of Lapras =
DC-DC NUC, which boosts 12V to 19V and the 20000/30876.6 = 0.6477 hours = 38.86 minutes
hydrophones. The Intel NUC powers the
microprocessor board. The buck converter drops The servo motors will not be working
the 12VDC to 7VDC for the servo motors. A
buck converter is also implemented for 12VDC - simultaneously, only one servo will operate at a
5VDC for the acoustic systems. A DPDT switch time. Similarly a maximum of 6 thrusters will be
located outside the AUV is connected between the operating at once. The runtime has been calculated
DC-DC NUC and the PDB as a kill switch to halt by taking these situations into consideration.
the vehicle’s functioning.
2. Battery monitoring system
2, 4 cell Lithium polymer batteries with a total
capacity of 20000mAH were chosen for the input
power. A custom battery monitoring system PCB
was designed, which continuously monitors the cell
voltage and the total voltage of each battery and
cuts it off from the circuit as soon as it reaches the
threshold minimum voltage (3.1V). This circuit also
switches between the two batteries through the
inrush as soon as one is cut off. Previously, a market
purchased battery management system was used,
But after thorough testing and designing, this PCB
was finally used.
Figure 2.7 Power distribution board
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C. SOFTWARE DEPARTMENT
5. Mission Planner
We used Smach as a Mission planner to divide a
given task into a structure of subtasks. It allows us
to compose and coordinate complex robot
Figure 2.14 Identifying and classifying the targets capabilities to robust robot applications. The nodes
in torpedo task in each task are operated through messages
published on different topics. The subtask to be
3. Distance Estimation performed next is determined by the message from
In order to accomplish certain tasks, like the buoy the current subtask or the subtask just executed. The
task, it was necessary to determine the distance current task, if executed successfully, publishes
between the camera and the target. So to do this, the messages that lead the robot further to another task
concept of “Triangle Similarity” was used. The in the task structure. In case any of the tasks fails,
performance of the algorithm was tested inside the corresponding defined action is taken.
Gazebo, and it gave us fairly good estimates of the
distance to the target.
III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Since we had very limited access to the pool
because of this ongoing pandemic situation,
Gazebo based simulations helped us to draw
some insights about our chances of succeeding
in the tasks. We had also planned on using
YOLOv3 based object detection in the real
Figure 2.15 Estimating the distance to the target.
DTU-AUV 9
situation, however because of the ongoing ● Since we have tested the torpedo in
situation we could not train a custom YOLO underwater environments previously and
detector in a remote environment. But since we based on that we have improved the
have used this algorithm in some of our torpedo design, we are predicting a
previous vehicles, we are pretty confident about success rate of 70% while shooting
its performance. So for testing in simulations we through the bigger opening and a success
have used OpenCV based object detection. rate of 60% while shooting through the
In order to make some valid predictions about smaller opening since we haven't tested
our success rates it was necessary to model the our improve torpedo design underwater.
vehicle as well as the environment as accurately ● We have tested the gripper mechanism
as possible. To test the robustness of the previously, but since the margin of error
algorithms in real time scenarios it was in the task is significant, our confidence
important to perform simulations in as different of successfully completing the task is
environments as possible. Also, simulating the about 40%.
sensor noises was a crucial part of this stress
testing process. Dropper Testing:
The team successfully tested the detect and drop
Based on the simulations and various tests code for the vehicle using a prototype model of
performed, as well as from our previous the dropper in the initial phase of testing.
experiences, we can conclude that our chances
of successfully completing the tasks is as
follows:
● For the gate task along with style it
would be approximately 95%,
● For the buoy task as well as the path
markers, we are estimating a success rate
of 100%, since we have performed these
tasks previously and have simulated Figure 3.1 Successful dropper testing
them also.
● We have also tested our marker droppers
in underwater environments during past Power Connector for Underwater
competitions as well as simulated it on Application
Gazebo, hence we are confident about Because of the high hydrostatic pressure and
completing the task without lifting the corrosive nature of the marine environment, it is
lid with 80% success rate. difficult to secure and reliable electrical
● We are quite confident with our connections. IP67 and IP68 connectors have to
acoustics navigation system and predict be used for transmitting electrical signal and
an 80% chance of successfully detecting power. Therefore, the reliability of the whole
the pinger to a sufficient distance such system during deployment, lifetime and
that the image recognition system can maintenance becomes dependent on its
take over. connector. For quick testing, we designed an
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V. REFERENCES
[1] N. Carlevaris-Bianco, A. Mohan, and R. M.
Eustice. Initial results in underwater single image
dehazing. In Proc. MTS/IEEE OCEANS, 2010.
[2] Natu, Aditya, Vipul Garg, Purnyatre Gaur,
Piyush Raj, Dhruv, Shivam Sain, Upasana Biswas,
Deepanshu Bansal et al. "Design and Development
of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle VARUNA
2.0."
[3] Wang, G., Zhou, J.Q., Zhao, Y.T., Feng, J. and
Sun, Q., 2021. Performance Degradation Modeling
and Reliability Analysis of Aviation Connectors in
Marine Environment. In IOP Conference Series:
Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 1043, No.
3, p. 032029). IOP Publishing.
[4] M. M. M. Manh ̃aes and S. A. Scherer and M.
Voss and L. R. Douat and T. Rauschenbach, UUV
Simulator: A
Gazebo-based package for underwater intervention
and multi-robot simulation 2016.
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Buoyancy Control NA NA NA NA
Frame In House Plane truss structure 4mm Aluminium 6061 T6 sheets $150
3D printed attachments 3D Printed ABS $81.20
Waterproof Connectors Blue robotics Potted Cable penetrator Quantity: 20,M-10 thread, 6mm $100
cable
Motor Control Blue ESC for T200 Quantity:8,7-26 volts (2-6S) $216
Robotics
High-Level Control Arduino Mega 2560 6-20V,54 digital I/0 pins,16 analog $24.30
pins, Clock speed:16MHz
Acoustics II Texas LAUNCHXL-F28379D 200 MHz dual C28xCPUs and dual $33.80
Instruments CLAs
Voltage sensor Robu Voltage detection sensor Voltage detection range: 0.02445V $1.10
module - 25V DC
Open-source software OpenCV, YOLOv3, Robot Operating System, Smach, Gazebo, Python, C++
Team Size 29
(number of people)
Inter-vehicle N/A
communication
Each year DTU AUV attends and organizes many The team believes in spreading awareness about
workshops to reach out to the community. Through what advancements are taking place in the fields of
these exhibitions, DTU-AUV tries to reach young science and technology. Every year we conduct a
and insightful minds to take up robotics. number of school workshops to promote such
activities and also give school students a sight of
exactly what kind of environment they face when
they go for higher studies.