AUV Autonomous Underwater
Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are considered autonomous because they have no physical connection to their operator, who may be on shore or aboard a ship. They are self-guiding and self-powered vehicles. The body would be made to be submerged and emerging from the fluid provided. Full
2025-06-28 16:30:35 - Adil Khan
AUV Autonomous Underwater
Project Area of Specialization RoboticsProject SummaryAutonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are considered autonomous because they have no physical connection to their operator, who may be on shore or aboard a ship. They are self-guiding and self-powered vehicles. The body would be made to be submerged and emerging from the fluid provided.
Fully autonomous operations carry power on-board. Power enables propellers or thrusters to move an AUV through the water: it's also necessary to operate sensors on-board the AUVs. In a relative sense, AUVs use more energy for their size and weight than do above-water vehicles, such as cars and airplane. Most AUVs use specialized batteries, although some AUVs have used fuel cells or rechargeable solar power. Certain AUVs, such as gliders, minimize energy demands by allowing gravity and buoyancy to propel them. AUVs can run for as short as hours or as long as days or even months — depending on its power source and the task at hand — before the battery need recharging. AUV technicians are constantly thinking about extending battery life by reducing drag or making AUVs lighter. The body of the AUV would be made from PVC due to its lightness and would be covered with silicon solution which would prevent any leakage.
Project Objectives- To design an economical unmanned vehicle for underwater monitoring and cleaning of water tanks.
- To provide an attractive option for ocean based research, military purposes, underwater mine hunting etc.
- To develop a safer option for rescuing underwater trapped lives-more efficient and time saving alternative for rescue teams.
- Development of a robot control architecture for an AUV able to achieve simple tasks.
- Locating hazards or shipwrecks on or below the sea floor also makes AUVs of interest to both the shipping industry and maritime archaeologists.
- Another area where these vehicles are in monitoring and maintenance tasks in environment where hazardous for humans or impractical for humans.
In this project we design and implement AUV through following stages.
- Design phase:
- The structure of the AUV body which would be made light enough to be carried and easily to pass through on water.
- Analysis of the movement and inertia of the body when emergence in water medium.
- Engineering for the structural and technical aspects of the AUV, proper power estimation, weight calculation, programming of controllers, selection proper waterproofing materials, pre installation working for camera etc.
- Implementation phase:
- The programming of Arduino according to the AUV movement.
- The programming for image processing in the AUV.
- Implementation of the structure as per design.
Many underwater vehicle were deigned in recent years with a large size and weight to perform dedicated tasks. It has become a prominent topic for research nowadays.
The designed AUV is for monitoring so it can easily be used for maintenance of ships and submarines, military uses, aircraft investigations, pipeline and cable maintenance, tanks cleaning and inspection, mapping, research on sea life etc.
Motivation behind this project is to design and make a new smaller in size and a cost efficient AUV that provides multiple applications.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableOur main deleiverable is to make the vehicle move inside water without any guidance fron outside and record underwater happenings.
AUV will submerge or emerge in water using "Ballastic Tank" through solenoid valve or pump respectively.
The movement of the vehicle would be determined by the obstacle avoidence using UltraSonic sensors and limit switches.
AUV would provide surveillance underwater via video recording.
| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 50490 | |||
| Arduino Mega | Equipment | 1 | 850 | 850 |
| AJ SR04M Waterproof Ultrasonic Sensor | Equipment | 7 | 1200 | 8400 |
| PVC Pipe 20'' | Equipment | 1 | 720 | 720 |
| PVC Cap 1.5'' diameter | Equipment | 14 | 50 | 700 |
| Structure | Equipment | 1 | 7500 | 7500 |
| Acrylic Box | Equipment | 1 | 2700 | 2700 |
| DC Motor Drive L298 | Equipment | 8 | 350 | 2800 |
| Battery 12V 7A | Equipment | 2 | 1500 | 3000 |
| DC Motor | Equipment | 13 | 250 | 3250 |
| Wires(in meter) | Equipment | 66 | 10 | 660 |
| Connectors | Equipment | 180 | 2 | 360 |
| RTV Tubes | Miscellaneous | 15 | 200 | 3000 |
| Silicon Gel | Miscellaneous | 20 | 15 | 300 |
| DC Switch | Equipment | 8 | 50 | 400 |
| Paint Structure | Miscellaneous | 1 | 2500 | 2500 |
| Plastic Sheets | Miscellaneous | 1 | 300 | 300 |
| Waterproof Camera | Equipment | 1 | 4400 | 4400 |
| Proximity Sensor | Equipment | 1 | 950 | 950 |
| Maxbotics Sonar MB1150 | Equipment | 1 | 3250 | 3250 |
| Ropes (in bundles) | Miscellaneous | 4 | 70 | 280 |
| Solenoid Valve | Equipment | 2 | 350 | 700 |
| Pumps | Equipment | 2 | 300 | 600 |
| PVC Solution | Miscellaneous | 5 | 300 | 1500 |
| Bump Switch | Equipment | 10 | 50 | 500 |
| Printing | Miscellaneous | 1 | 250 | 250 |
| Plastic Box | Miscellaneous | 4 | 50 | 200 |
| Soldering Wire | Equipment | 6 | 70 | 420 |