Project Objective A Proposed Model for A Fully Autonomous Underwater Vehicle System, by making use of a Buoyancy Mechanism and Only Three Thrusters. Our Team Sameer Hasan - [Mechanical (3rd year)] Abhinandan Jain - [Electronics(3rd year)] Syed Yusuf Ali - [Mechanical (3rd year)] Shailendra Kumar - [Electronics(3rd year)] Mayank Gupta - [Computer(3rd year)] BACKGROUND The project idea was originally conceived by a group of students from a previous batch and they had successfully presented it to a panel of judges in Students Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (SAVe) Competitions in years 2012 & 2014 organized by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai. Each time our team SEA participated in SAVe they cleared the Preliminary(I phase) and Comprehensive Design (II phase) but fabrication could not be completed due to lack of funds. Needless to mention that the team got special attention and appreciation from panel of Judges at NIOT (which included one from USA also) for the unique strategies and cost effectiveness.  The same project idea was taken up and improved upon by this new batch of engineering students (whose names are mentioned above) and was presented at the 2nd Unmanned Systems Conference and Exhibition INDIA 2014 (USCEI), New Delhi, where it won the first prize for best paper presentation and a cash prize of Rs 15000. We are now working in full swing in order to procure funds and fabricate a prototype based along the design ideas already developed on paper. Introduction DESIGN VIDEO BACKGROUND AND AIM A number of hostile and inaccessible places under the ocean have been left unexplored due to the inability of humans to survive in such conditions. Advances in the field of robotics allow us to cope with this problem in a more efficient and technologically proficient way. Here is a proposed design for a fully Autonomous Underwater Vehicle System capable of performing preloaded operations on its own, using an onboard computer. APPLICATIONS The entire autonomous system design could be used for research activities including specimen accumulation and extraction from the sea bed for experimental analysis and bringing back video footage of inaccessible underwater areas. The proposed vehicle can be deployed for military applications which involves strategic placement of this vehicle at sensitive areas on the Indian borderline to ensure surveillance of any objectionable activity underwater and thus help strengthen the Indian Defense System. Phase 1: Design Concept We first focus on the designing part and ensure a finalized and ready to fabricate design. SYSTEM DESIGN AND SUB-SYSTEMS The primary design process for the entire system requires a brief understanding of the areas of deployment where the submarine would be expected to operate. Depending on the parameters of input that it will be able to gather and the functions that it would be expected to perform, an outline of the overall system can be prepared giving us the opportunity to identify individual sub-systems and perform an extensive research on these sub-systems. Based on the above mentioned conditions, an outline for the system design is prepared in the form of a flowchart, mentioning all of the individual sub-systems for the AUV, shown in figure 1.
DESIGN OVERVIEW Below is an overview of the assembled version of our proposed design rendered from Solidworks.
Assembled Design View Each and every component has been carefully designed with well thought out strategies and has been individually been shown in the schematic diagram below:
Schematic View of the Proposed Model Phase 2: Actual Design and Simulation
With the limited funds we currently have, we plan to start fabrication of the outer body and buy the thruster to get at least a working model worthy for underwater testing. After a market survey and a review of our design we have decided upon the final dimensions for the body and fed them to the CAD model prepared. The thrusters are also to be bought at the earliest and will be mounted along the center of gravity of the proposed system in order to have precise movements under water during testing phase. The following thruster has been selected with the model number given for the first stage of testing. 
The assembly thus fabricated from the parts mentioned above should look like this.  The End Cap along with the O-ring Flange would ensure a seal from water leaks and the thrusters placed would ensure enough degree of freedom to begin initial testing. The following is the Elevation, Plan and Left End View for this stage of model. An exploded view is also shown.   Simulation of Hull The above figure shows the pressure variation on the hull when the hull is moving inside the water in horizontal orientation at 0.5 m/s speed and at a depth of 5 meters. ***Click on the images for animation  The above figure shows the pressure variation on the hull when the hull is moving inside the water inclined at 30 degree downward at 0.5 m/s speed and at a depth of 5 meters.  The above figure shows the pressure variation on the hull when the hull is moving inside the water inclined at 30 degree upward at 0.5 m/s speed and at a depth of 5 meters.  |
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