Design and Development of Specialized Autonomous Maritime Vehicles

Abstract

In collaboration with colleagues at Penn State, we will formally examine a wide array of design trade-o s for an autonomous vehicle system that can operate both in air and in water. We seek to develop overall design guidance as well as tools that can be used to map functional requirements, such as endurance, payload size/weight/power, etc, to a speci c candidate vehicle. In addition, we will contribute to the design, fabrication, and testing of speci c autonomous vehicles that operate in a marine environment. We will develop a low-noise propulsion system for an existing quad-rotor unmanned air vehicle, as well as autonomous vehicles that operate in both air and water. In collaboration with our colleagues at Penn State, we will develop an entirely new hybrid autonomous vehicle that is able to operate in air and underwater. We will focus on the vehicle s propulsionsubsystem as well as other subsystems related to operating underwater. Finally, we will continue development of a small autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that is capable of towing a very large payload. We will focus on development of an acoustic bearing sensor that is integrated into the AUV, and on eld trials where the AUV uses the bearing sensor to home toward loud acoustic sources. We propose a two-year project during which we will work with Professor Eric Johnson and his team at Penn State University to develop a hybrid autonomous vehicle that is capable of operating in air and in water. During the first year, we will also continue development of the Dragon autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that is capable of towing a very large payload. Should field trails of the Dragon AUV be successful during Year 1, continued development will occur during Year 2 as an optional task.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Aug 15, 2019
Source ID
N000141912507

Entities

People

  • Daniel J. Stilwell

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy
  • Virginia Tech

Tags

Readers

  • Research Science/Academic Research
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy