Design of an Acoustic-Homing Autonomous Surface Vessel

Author

Cooney, L. ; Stanway, M.J. ; Augenbergs, P. ; Brundage, H. ; Downey, B. ; Pennington, T. ; Stefanov-Wagner, T. ; Tobias, D.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. Eng., Massachusetts Inst. of Technol., Cambridge, MA

fYear

2006

fDate

18-21 Sept. 2006

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

We designed, built, and conducted trials on an acoustic-homing autonomous surface vessel. After characterizing the performance of a commercially available kayak hull, we installed power, propulsion, and control systems for autonomous operation. The acoustic tracking payload was built up from basic components. We overcame hardware limitations in the microcontrollers and demonstrated acceptable average accuracy in locating the acoustic target. This project demonstrated the feasibility of the overall goal of using a small surface vessel to follow a submerged acoustic beacon

Keywords

microcontrollers; propulsion; remotely operated vehicles; target tracking; underwater sound; acoustic target; acoustic tracking payload; acoustic-homing autonomous surface vessel; control system; kayak hull; microcontrollers; power system; propulsion system; submerged acoustic beacon; Control systems; Frequency; Microcontrollers; Mobile communication; Payloads; Propulsion; Sea surface; Target tracking; Underwater acoustics; Underwater vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

OCEANS 2006

Conference_Location

Boston, MA

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0114-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/OCEANS.2006.307027

Filename

4099146