Water jet based autonomous surface vehicle for coastal waters operations

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2014

Authors

Machado, D (Author) Other; Martins, A (Author) Other; Almeida, JM (Author) Other; Ferreira, H (Author) Other; Amaral, G (Author) Other; Bruno Ferreira (Author) FEUP; Aníbal Castilho Coimbra de Matos (Author) FEUP; E. Pereira da Silva (Author) Other

Conference proceedings International

Title: 2014 Oceans - St. John's, OCEANS 2014

2014 Oceans - St. John's, OCEANS 2014

14 September 2014 through 19 September 2014

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 2 Citations

Scopus - 8 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00G-257

DOI: 10.1109/oceans.2014.7003169

Abstract (EN): This paper presents the design of low cost, small autonomous surface vehicle for missions in the coastal waters and specifically for the challenging surf zone. The main objective of the vehicle design described in this paper is to address both the capability of operation at sea in relative challenging conditions and maintain a very low set of operational requirements (ease of deployment). This vehicle provides a first step towards being able to perform general purpose missions (such as data gathering or patrolling) and to at least in a relatively short distances to be able to be used in rescue operations (with very low handling requirements) such as carrying support to humans on the water. The USV is based on a commercially available fiber glass hull, it uses a directional waterjet powered by an electrical brushless motor for propulsion, thus without any protruding propeller reducing danger in rescue operations. Its small dimensions (1.5 m length) and weight allow versatility and ease of deployment. The vehicle design is described in this paper both from a hardware and software point of view. A characterization of the vehicle in terms of energy consumption and performance is provided both from test tank and operational scenario tests. An example application in search and rescue is also presented and discussed with the integration of this vehicle in the European ICARUS (7th framework) research project addressing the development and integration of robotic tools for large scale search and rescue operations.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 8