AMOUR V: A Hovering Energy Efficient Underwater Robot Capable of Dynamic Payloads

TLDR

Marine survey and monitoring demand autonomous underwater vehicles that can hover and carry dynamic payloads during a single mission. The paper describes the design and control algorithms of AMOUR, a low‑cost autonomous underwater vehicle for marine survey and monitoring. AMOUR achieves power‑efficient hovering and payload transport using internal buoyancy and balance control, operates with a wireless underwater sensor network, deploys and recovers static nodes, and communicates acoustically for signaling and localization and optically for data muling. Experimental pool and ocean trials demonstrate AMOUR’s basic navigation, power efficiency, and ability to carry dynamic payloads.

Abstract

In this paper we describe the design and control algorithms of AMOUR , a low-cost autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of missions of marine survey and monitoring. AMOUR is a highly maneuverable robot capable of hovering and carrying dynamic payloads during a single mission. The robot can carry a variety of payloads. It uses internal buoyancy and balance control mechanisms to achieve power efficient motions regardless of the payload size. AMOUR is designed to operate in synergy with a wireless underwater sensor network (WUSN) of static nodes. The robot’s payload was designed in order to deploy, relocate and recover the static sensor nodes. It communicates with the network acoustically for signaling and localization and optically for data muling. We present control algorithms, navigation algorithms, and experimental data from pool and ocean trials with AMOUR that demonstrate its basic navigation capabilitrials with AMOUR that demonstrate its basic navigation capabili ties, power efficiency, and ability to carry dynamic payloads.