Development and Analysis of an Autonomous Underwater Inspection Vehicle with Enhanced Maneuverability

Abstract

There is much interest in robots for underwater inspection and survey purposes. Typically, sensors for such applications are located in the robot's main body or hull. Conventional underwater robot design uses a single hull carrying all the components with thrusters attached on it for propulsion. As the number of components (especially sensors, batteries) inside the robot hull increases, the designer has to choose a longer hull design which can accommodate them. But a long single hull shape leads to longer turning radius, making it difficult to operate the robot in constrained spaces. Here, we describe the design and working of a surface & underwater robot with split hull mechanism which will provide a lower turning radius. This provides better maneuverability than a single hull torpedo robot with similar overall dimensions. Kinematic/dynamic analysis of the same robot is also carried out later.