Date of Award

2022

Degree Type

Capstone Project

First Advisor

Dr. Bahram Nassersharif

Second Advisor

TA’s: Ashutosh Kumar, Amer Charbaji, Hojat Heidaribafroui

Abstract

The use of unmanned vehicles by the U.S. Military is an evolving method of weapon deployment and data acquisition. As the use of these devices increase as the technology surrounding them evolves, the method of retrieval of these unmanned vehicles needs to advance as well. Consequently, The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is interested in devising a method of recovering Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and has asked Team 3 from the University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering’s Capstone teams to design and build a device or method of retrieval. While methods of retrieval of these devices already exist, they require trained teams to be responsible for manually retrieving the UUV by means of divers, boats, and/or aircraft. These methods are effective but put personnel in harm’s way, require large amounts of time and patients, and come at a cost to employ the teams and equipment to complete the task. NUWC’s problem statement calls for the process to be unmanned, either remote control or completely autonomous, and for the retrieval to be achieved using a forward-facing launch tube of a larger host vehicle, such as a full-size submarine. Team 3 designed and began construction on what is being called “The Cone”, an electromechanically actuated device that is housed in the large host tube that operates by moving to the end of the tube where the exposed end of it expands to create a larger opening for the UUV to enter. The Cone is made up of five “fins” that are actuated using servo motors, and a base ring that holds the electronics and a thruster responsible for moving the apparatus. When the UUV is within the Cone, the fins will close around it, gripping it, and then pull it into the host tube. The electronics for the Cone are housed at the rear of the launch tube and are controlled using a serial connection from a microcontroller to a near-by computer. This machine was designed with a $300 USD budget and was able to be produced slightly under budget.

Comments

Team Name: Team 3, Aqua-Tech Extractions

Sponsor: Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC)

Sponsor Representative: Ian Millspaugh

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