SotonAUV: University of Southampton entry into the 2007 student autonomous underwater challenge - Europe

The University of Southampton’s entry into the Student Autonomous Underwater Challenge - Europe (SAUC-E) 2007 is a custom designed and built Autonomous Underwater Vehicle(AUV) named SotonAUV, it measures 1.31m long, 0.26m wide, 0.22m deep and weighs approximately 24kg in air. Originally developed for SAUC-E 2006, the vehicle has been significantly upgraded for the 2007 competition; the propulsion system has been replaced, resulting in a more efficient and highly reliable system, the pressure vessel has been redesigned to reduce weight and the vehicles software has been redeveloped to improve the autonomy of the vehicle. The design of the vessel focused on a faired hydrodynamic shape encasing an extruded aluminium frame supporting the vessels propulsion system and two central pressure vessels. The autonomous control system is undertaken through various custom built PCBs, off-the-shelf components and a central mini ITX computer running a specially developed autonomy program based in the MATLAB environment. Sensing is undertaken through the use of waterproof cameras, a compass, a pressure sensor, and a three axis gyroscope and accelerometer. Propulsion is achieved using a pair of side mounted horizontal rim driven thrusters to provide surge and yaw control in the horizontal plane and two vertical rim driven tunnel thrusters at the bow and stern of the vessel to provide control in heave and pitch.