Date of Award
2019
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Ocean Engineering
Department
Ocean Engineering
First Advisor
Stephen Licht
Abstract
This work accesses the feasibility of integrating an inertial navigation system (INS) and Doppler Velocity Logger (DVL) into an A-size AUV that is 4.875” in diameter. The mechanical integration solution developed during this effort focused on developing a low size, weight, power, and cost (i.e. low SWaP-C) navigation module for the Bluefin SandShark. Unlike other approaches currently pursuing this same navigation problem, including those attempting novel acoustic based tracking or novel hydrodynamic model based navigation, this effort, instead, integrated a novel navigational software system developed by Charles River Analytics, called CAMINO, into the available internal volume of an A-size pressure vessel. CAMINO functionality is enabled by a set a suite of low SWaP-C electronics, and Teledyne Marine’s smallest commercial available DVL, the Pathfinder. These components, once mechanically integrated into a novel navigation module, are capable of providing low SWaP-C navigation capabilities to small AUVs. Furthermore, this work has the potential ability to have a significant impact on the proliferation of these easy-to-use, man portable vehicles that have otherwise been plagued with having a reputation of not being able to execute meaningful missions due to lacking navigation capabilities. Through Finite Element Analysis simulations, the mechanical design was proven to be pressure tolerant to a depth of 200m, with a minimum FOS of 2.16. Experimental testing of the CAMINO software demonstrated that over a 2,015m figure-8 pattern course, the system accrued 42m of positional error in both the X and Y directions, or a total of 2% of the distance traveled.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Scudere, Anthony, "ASSESSING THE FEASIBILITY OF INTERGRATING AN INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM AND DVL INTO AN A-SIZED AUV" (2019). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 1459.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/1459