Control surface and actuator design for a low drag, laminar flow AUV

Author

Merry, S.L. ; Large, M.J. ; Whitten, T.J. ; Wilkinson, M.R. ; Babb, R.J.

Author_Institution

Inst. of Sound & Vibration Res., Southampton Univ., UK

fYear

1996

fDate

2-6 Jun 1996

Firstpage

57

Lastpage

64

Abstract

The design process for the control surfaces and actuators of the long distance AUV DOLPHIN (UK “Autosub” project) is described. The main design criteria are low drag, reliability, robustness and energy-efficiency. The aerodynamic characteristics of four NACA foil sections and various stabiliser/moveable fin geometries are compared, in order to reach the final design, which incorporates a NACA 66-009 wing section with a partial span trailing edge flap. The actuator is located in a wing-tip pod, which also houses the sensors for oceanographic data logging. Preliminary analysis of wind tunnel tests on a full-scale model of the control surfaces confirms that the lift force required to achieve the specified manoeuvrability for DOLPHIN is easily generated. Measured drag data is lower than expected and this requires further analysis

Keywords

actuators; control system synthesis; marine systems; mobile robots; naval engineering; Autosub; DOLPHIN; NACA 66-009 wing section; NACA foil sections; actuator design; control surface design; energy-efficiency; low-drag laminar-flow AUV; manoeuvrability; oceanographic data logging; partial span trailing edge flap; reliability; robustness; stabiliser/moveable fin geometries; submarine; wind tunnel tests; wing-tip pod; Actuators; Aerodynamics; Dolphins; Drag; Energy efficiency; Geometry; Process control; Process design; Robustness; Sea surface;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology, 1996. AUV '96., Proceedings of the 1996 Symposium on

Conference_Location

Monterey, CA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3185-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AUV.1996.532401

Filename

532401