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Development of Modular Shallow Water AUV:

Issues & Trial Results

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DOI: 10.1007/s40032-012-0026-0

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228
DOI 10.1007/s40032-012-0026-0

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Development of Modular Shallow Water AUV:

Issues & Trial Results
S. N. Shome S. Nandy D. Pal S. K. Das
S. R. K. Vadali Jhankar Basu Sukamal Ghosh

Received: 7 May 2012 / Accepted: 6 June 2012 / Published online: 3 August 2012
 The Institution of Engineers (India) 2012

Abstract In view of their operational ease, autonomous
underwater vehicles (AUVs) find wide applications in
different sub-sea operations, and the range encompasses
bathymetry, seabed mapping, collection of marine data as
well as strategic and commercial applications like under-
water surveillance and reconnaissance, recovery and
monitoring of submerged installations. A modular shallow
water AUV having five degrees of freedomchristened
AUV-150has been designed and developed by CSIR-
CMERI, Durgapur, India for operating up to a depth of
150 m. A fully functional AUV has been tested at various
conditions in accordance to test protocols. This paper
relates to the developmental issues, the hurdles faced
during various phases of development of the AUV-150 and
discusses the experimental results obtained during trials of
the AUV in lake and sea.
Keywords AUV
Modular
Navigation
Control

Roll stabilization
Sea trial
Communication
Abbreviations
CTD Conductivity temperature depth
DVL Doppler velocity log
DVS Digital video server
EKF Extended Kalman filter
FLS Forward looking SONAR
S. N. Shome (&)
S. Nandy
D. Pal
S. K. Das

S. R. K. Vadali
J. Basu
CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute,
Durgapur, India
e-mail: snshome@cmeri.res.in
S. Ghosh
NIT, Durgapur, India
GPS Global positioning system
INS Inertial navigation system
NIOT National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai,
India
NPOL Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory,
Cochin, India
USBL Ultra short base line
Introduction
For a sufficiently long period, remotely operated vehicles
(ROVs) were adopted as a technological solution for
underwater applications. Being tethered vehicles, ROVs
suffer from limitations in manoeuvrability. The eventual
demand for a cost-effective, pre-programmable and more
dextrous substitute led to the development of a completely
different class of unmanned submersibles known as AUVs
[1]. AUVs were found to be more suited for a gamut of sub-
sea applications, a factor which contributed to the reduction
of development costs [2, 3]. AUVs are now being used in
almost every sub-sea operations ranging from bathymetry,
seabed mapping and data collection to strategic and com-
mercial applications like underwater surveillance and
reconnaissance, treasure hunting as well as recovery and
monitoring of deep-water pipeline installations.
Current research targets development of self-contained,
intelligent, decision-making AUVs and substantial research
is being undertaken globally for myriad of applications [4,
5]. Extensive R&D is under way in regard of efficient
design, application of biomimetic principles, use of
advanced materials, improved communication, large power
density, dextrous controls, autonomous navigation,

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218
emergency retrievals, etc. [68]. Of late, India has taken a
major stride towards designing and developing AUVs for
several purposes [911]. The National Institute of Ocean-
ography (NIO), Goa, a CSIR laboratory, has developed an
AUV prototype Maya and have tested it at shallow water
depths for oceanographic applications [12]. The Naval
Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakha-
patnam, a DRDO laboratory, has developed a flatfish model
AUV [13]. At the behest of the Ministry of Earth Sciences
(MoES), Government of India, CSIR-CMERI has come up
with a full-scale prototype AUV employing a modular
configuration capable of diving up to 150 m depth for
oceanographic data collection. Several successful sheltered
and sea trials have also been conducted on the AUV-150.
The present paper discusses a host of issues related to
the development of the AUV-150. The foregoing portion of
the paper is organized as follows: Modular Shallow Water
AUV: Design Aspects section dwells briefly on various
design issues related to the development of the AUV-150.
Major Hurdles section presents the hurdles faced and
solutions adopted towards solving those hurdles. Lake
and Sea-Trials section provides details of experimental
results of lake and sea trials and observations there on.
Finally, Conclusions section summarises a few conclu-
sive remarks emanating from the entire exercise.
Modular Shallow Water AUV: Design Aspects
Why Modularity?
Monolithic design approach where the system has to be
considered as a whole and not component-wise or module-
wise implies, in case of the AUV mechanical frame, that
the whole body is considered to be a single block. Mono-
lithic hardware allows little flexibility for changed mission
requirement. In case new payloads or devices cannot be
accommodated inside the vehicle, the sole option is to
attach additional equipment on external part of the body.
Addition of device on external part of the body alters the
vehicle characteristics and performance.
As opposed to the Monolithic design approach, modular
design breaks the overall system into a number of modules.
Integrating all modules leads to the total design. In case of
modular design, the basic configuration of the vehicle need
not be altered for addition or removal any payload or
enhancement of energy system. However, modular con-
struction in case of AUV comes with the added complexity
of cable routing and networking between modules. The
advantages of modular design are:
Reconfigurability
Flexibility in interchanging modules
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228
Ease of handling and easy access
Ease of augmentation of new module
Ease of transport and maintenance
Easy fault diagnosis
Option of parallel fabrication of modules
Custom configurability with field swappable payload
modules
Modularity of system structure and software architec-
ture affording better system reliability.
Major Design Aspects for Shallow Water AUV
The focus of the design concept is to create an AUV that
can be reconfigured easily for various tasks. There are a
host of issues associated with the development of an AUV,
the salient amongst which are being dealt in brief:
Configuration. Important parameters of an AUV with
respect to shape and size are: drag, flow separation and
vehicle stability. Cylindrical torpedo shaped AUVs are
easier to handle, manufacture, launch and retrieve and
are structurally rugged. Considering its advantages,
torpedo shape is selected for the AUV as it can easily
be reconfigured and be easily broken down into various
modules.
Degrees of Freedom. Efficient and unconstrained
underwater operation of AUV requires at least six
degrees of freedom. The AUV-150, however, is
designed with five controllable degrees of freedom
and roll stabilization is achieved through mechanical
means.
Stability. An AUV needs to be analytically modelled to
evaluate the centre of gravity (CG), the centre of
buoyancy (CB) and mass moments of inertia etc. to
predict stability of the vehicle. Sensors and equipment
further need to be placed judiciously for proper system
balancing. For static stability, the centre of buoyancy
needs to remain above the centre of gravity.
Hydrodynamics/Buoyancy. While moving underwater,
the AUV would experience drag force depending on the
speed of the vehicle. Hydrodynamic modelling plays a
vital role in minimizing propulsion energy requirement
and influences vehicle control. Further, the AUV was
designed to operate at near-neutral buoyancy, which
effectively helps in faster vehicle retrieval.
Energy. For optimized vehicle mass and size, the
onboard energy system should possess high energy
density, facilitate easy recharging and have sufficient
life cycles. Equipment safety should be kept in mind
while selecting a particular type of battery and proper
monitoring arrangement needs to be installed.
Navigation, Communication and Payload. Effective
navigation and control through position estimation of
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228 219

AUV utilizing filtering tools is very essential for seabed Module interconnections and sealing of dry sections is
mapping applications while tracking a particular path. extremely important. Special sea-grade aluminium alloy
Capability of intelligent detection and obstacle avoid- (Al-6061-T6) having high strength-to-weight ratio was
ance were also incorporated. For communication, the selected for hull manufacture.
AUV requires hybrid configuration, i.e. RF when on
surface and acoustics when underwater. Depending on Hydrodynamic Coefficients and Roll Stabilization
missions and the payload, selected sensors are posi-
tioned away from thrusters to minimize interference. To calculate hydrodynamic coefficients, an effective length
of 4.15 m (converting the overall volume as a cylinder of
Keeping in view of the above vital design aspects,
diameter 0.5 m, equivalent length is calculated), an effec-
AUV-150 has been designed for operation up to a depth of
tive mass of 484 kg and a thickness of 8 mm were used.
150 m with a maximum forward speed of four knot, mis-
The mass of actual AUV-150 prototype with all sensors
sion time spanning 46 h and payload capacity ranging
and devices was measured and found to be 474 kg in air.
from 20 to 30 kg.
For balancing the AUV in water and to evaluate its max-
imum positive buoyancy, weights were placed across the
Mechanical Design and Power Requirements
dimension of vehicle maintaining its balance until the
vehicle just started to sink. A positive buoyancy of 16 kg
The AUV-150 employs a modular design to accommodate
was achieved. Out of this, a mass of 11 kg was judiciously
newer payloads with enhanced capabilities. The vehicle is
distributed across the vehicle to retain an approximate
cylindrical in shape with diameter 0.5 m and length 4.85 m
ultimate positive buoyancy of 5 kg. The actual mass of the
having hemispherical nose and conical tail. The pressure to
vehicle was thus changed to 485 kg and the total buoyant
which an AUV is subjected is directly proportional to the
force was found to be 490 kg in sweet water. Mass eval-
depth and thickness of AUV was evaluated as 8 mm. It has
uated from 3D model with all sensors, components and
six independent modules from nose to tail as shown in
11 kg in dead weights was found to be 484 kg. Theoretical
Fig. 1. Five thrusters are mounted on the AUV for gener-
analysis thus closely agreeing with the actual prototype,
ating motion (propulsion and manoeuvre). Four through-
this value was used for hydrodynamic parameter estima-
body tunnel thrusters, two each on the nose and tail side ends
tion. Since the position difference between the CG and the
are mounted orthogonally. These tunnel thrusters impart
CB of the vehicle in the vertical plane was 0.0675 m which
manoeuvring capability in four directions, namely, Sway,
is more than D/10 of the vehicle, roll stability of the vehicle
Heave, Pitch, and Yaw. The main thruster mounted at the
was ensured. In actual practice also the AUV-150 remained
end of tail section provides surge in the axial direction.
highly stable against roll disturbances even when subjected
Propelling power is the largest component of the total
to high ocean currents during the sea trials.
power requirement and increases in proportion to the cube
of the speed. On the other hand, increased speed leads to
Navigational and Payload Sensors
reduced mission time. Thus there is always an optimum
speed with a minimum power need. Considering its higher
Sensors play a dominant role for effective control and
energy density, lighter weight, higher life and safety
visualization of AUV ambience. The sensors used are
aspects, Lithium polymer battery was chosen for powering
principally of two typesnavigational and payload.
the AUV-150.
Table 1 summarizes the array of sensors with their role and
The thrust modules accommodate tunnel thrusters. Both
their positions in different modules are depicted in Fig. 2.
the thrust modules and tail module are wet units. The
PHINS, Doppler velocity log (DVL), Global positioning
computation module, however, is fully sealed. Both nose
system (GPS), depth sensor and altimeter are used to
and power modules have dry as well as wet compartments.
localize the AUV with respect to the inertial reference
frame for most effective navigation. Real time integration
of data from navigational sensors provides accurate posi-
tion, attitude, heading and velocity information.
The payload sensors collect required information for
various applications while the navigational sensors assist in
controlling the position and velocity of the vehicle. The
AUV is equipped with Side Scan SONAR, CTD and
camera as payload sensors. Data acquired by FLS is used to
determine the range and bearing of critical obstacles to be
Fig. 1 A 3D view of modular AUV-150 avoided with the help of obstacle avoidance algorithm.

123
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Table 1 Sensors used in AUV-150
Sensors
Side Scan SONAR, M/s. Tritech, UK
CTD Sensor, M/s. Falmouth, USA
Pressure Sensor, M/s. Falmouth, USA
Camera (Pan tilt), M/s. Kongsberg, USA
Forward Looking SONAR (FLS), M/s.Tritech, UK
Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), M/s. RD instruments, USA
Inertial Navigation System (PHINS), M/s. IXSEA, France
Altimeter, M/s. Kongsberg, USA
Acoustic Modem ? USBL, M/s. LinkQuest, USA
Radio Modem, Moxa, USA
GPS, M/s. NovAtel
Voltage and current sensor
Leak detector
Fig. 2 AUV-150 X-sectional
view with components
Dynamics
AUV dynamics is highly nonlinear, coupled and time
varying. The AUV is considered as a rigid body which is
subjected to various forces and moments due to its inter-
action with the surrounding fluid and the forces/moments
exerted by the actuators. The equations of motion of AUV
are derived using the Kirchhoffs equations [14]. The
equation of motion consists of inertia, Coriolis, centrifugal,
gravitational and hydrodynamic parameters (added mass
and damping) for an AUV in six degrees of freedom. As
the movement is through water, the fluid effect comes into
picture in the form of added mass and damping coefficients
[15]. The components of the added mass matrix are cal-
culated based on the shape of the AUV only. The cross-
coupling coefficients are zero as AUV is having symmetric
configuration. For our envisaged application as AUV needs
to move at low speed, only linear and quadratic damping
terms are considered. The damping matrix is assumed to be
diagonal due to symmetric configuration and the parame-
ters are estimated using empirical relations. Considering
relevant design parameters, and applying strip theory,
hydrodynamic coefficients for AUV-150 were estimated.
123
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228
Purpose/useful information
Sea floor mapping
Conductivity, temperature and depth
Operational depth from water surface
Visual information
Detection of obstaclerange and bearing
Velocity in three directionsVx, Vy, Vz and altitude
Roll, pitch, yaw, surge, sway and heave
Sea floor distance from the vehicle
Underwater acoustic communication & absolute position of the vehicle
Surface communication
Global position of the vehicle (latitudelongitude)
Voltage and current of battery banks
Water leakage into pressure hulls
Navigation and Control
The highly nonlinear and coupled dynamic equations are
transformed into a form suitable for navigation and control
system simulation, analysis and implementation. Control of
underwater robotic systems in a remote environment is
more challenging and interesting due to uncertainties in
hydrodynamic coefficients, ocean current disturbances.
Usually ocean currents do not vary considerably with time.
Therefore ocean current velocity can be considered as
constant for practical purposes. Force exerted on the
vehicle due to ocean current is a function of orientation of
the AUV with respect to the ocean current. Generally this
force is incorporated into the equations of motion by taking
AUV velocity as the relative velocity with respect to ocean
current. Information related to the ocean current is
achieved using DVL. Linear and angular positions and
velocities are measured using INS and DVL. States of the
AUV are estimated judiciously removing the uncertainties
from the process and measurements through fusion algo-
rithms (EKF) for effective navigation and control.
Various control algorithms e.g. PID, Sliding mode
controller, inputoutput feedback linearization controller,
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228
Fig. 3 Block diagram of navigation and control system
etc. were tried for efficient motion control of AUV. During
experimentation PID was implemented and found to yield
satisfactory performance. Figure 3 represents the block
diagram of navigation and control.
Communication with Modular Shallow Water AUV
The AUV-150 was subjected to operator control through
surface and underwater signalling. When on the surface, the
surface control communicates with the AUV via wireless-
LAN/RF modem, and a wireless outdoor antenna is used for
long range communication. An ultra short base line (USBL)
system with integrated acoustic modem supporting a data
rate of 640 bps was used to get absolute position of the
vehicle and communicating data underwater. The USBL
transponder is mounted on the nose module of the AUV and
the transceiver resides with the surface ship.
Major Hurdles
The team came across through lot of hurdles during AUV-
150 development and solved judiciously. The major hur-
dles are addressed below:
Loose Connection. The problem of loose connection is
quite common during electric circuit harnessing. Loose
connections in such a complex system are extremely
difficult to trace which often drastically hampers the
overall performance. In order to address the issue,
proper connections like screw tightening, hard solder-
ing, etc. were performed with utmost care in each and
every location.
Powering & Charging the AUV. Just before submer-
sion, the AUV-150 is powered through a 24 pin
underwater connector, which is also used for charging
the batteries from outside. Battery charging com-
menced once the two terminals of the connector was
activated via a 24 V relay. The circuit disconnects once
the charging is completed. After AUV is powered up
the connector is covered with a dummy underwater
mating connector before deployment underwater. How-
ever, the AUV is switched off through resident
software.
221
Water Leakage. The AUV system consists of dry and
wet chambers that are interlinked through underwater
connectors and cables. As there are several manually
sealed joints, there is a high possibility of water leakage
through the joints due to manual faults, O-ring defects,
material defects etc. Water leakage, if any, needs to be
detected and AUV power needs to be turned off to
avoid damage of components. An indigenous water
leak detection mechanism has been developed and
placed in all the dry modules to avoid any damage of
the system through instant water leakage detection.
Isolation and Grounding. Isolation and ground looping
problems caused malfunctioning of thrusters and other
components. This was solved using isolated power
supplies and assigning local ground to each component
individually and ultimately by providing a common
single ground reference point.
Redundant Pressure Gauge. AUV dry modules were
designed and then analyzed through finite element
modeling (FEM). A pressure testing chamber was set
up to test the fabricated dry modules up to a pressure of
15 bar to simulate the equivalent condition and observe
deformations. The pressure chamber was fitted initially
with a calibrated digital pressure gauge. When a
pressure of 15 bar was applied during testing, the dry
chamber was found to have deformed. However on
subsequent examination, the design appeared to be
sound enough and it was identified that the damage was
due to faulty reading of the digital pressure gauge. To
resolve the issue, another redundant analogue pressure
gauge was used and both the readings were checked,
and no further deformation was noted at the appointed
pressure.
Failure of System Software. Efficient control and
software architectures were difficult to evolve as from
the system point of view the AUV was quite compli-
cated. During the early stages, system software some-
times failed to function, resulting in the non-stop
motion of the thrusters. The problem was analyzed and
remedial action was taken to modify system software.
In addition, a relay operated power supply interfaced
with software controlled switching was devised for
emergency cut-off of thrusters power.
Powering DVS. The payload computer i.e. digital video
server (DVS) needed manual triggering for powering
up. Since the DVS resides inside the dry chamber, it
was difficult to switch it on from outside. The only
alternative under the circumstances was leaving the
DVS in the switch-on mode, leading to consumption of
more power. The problem was solved by using a
solenoid based external switch board for powering the
DVS.
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Lake and Sea-Trials
The AUV-150 was at first rigorously tested at the limited
size shallow basin facility (50 m 9 10 m 9 5 m) of CSIR-
CMERI, Durgapur. Experience of the shallow basin trials
was augmented through extensive experiments involving
longer ranges and deep-water operations at Idukki Lake,
Cochin, Kerala prior to sea trials. Finally, the system was
tested up to a depth of 150 m at sea during July 2011.
Experiments with AUV-150 in the Idukki Lake were
undertaken in two phases with active support from the
Underwater Acoustic Research Facility of NPOL, Cochin.
Initial lake trials were conducted in 2009 and the second
phase trials in 2010. The present section details some of the
performance facets in this order.
Fig. 4 Fully assembled AUV at Idukki Lake, Cochin
Fig. 5 Heading, surge and
control signals for thrusters
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228
Lake Trials
The AUV was mounted on a barge and overhead cranes
were used to launch the AUV into the lake waters. Figure 4
illustrates the fully assembled AUV poised for trials at the
Idukki Lake, Cochin.
During all trials, missions were carried out with the help
of pre-compiled mission files which were stored on the
onboard computational unit.
Trials were conducted for two categories of mission, viz.
straight course keeping and closed loop missions, both during
surface and sub-surface operations. During straight course
keeping, the AUV was required to maintain its heading and
displacement corrections in surge to reach the desired posi-
tion. On the contrary, closed loop missions comprised tra-
versing square or trapezoidal profiles in straight paths.
For example, a particular line in the pre-programmed
mission file reading: 270.0 15.0 1.25 meant that the desired
heading was 270, desired surge, 15 m and a hovering time
of 1.25 min. The hovering time was found to be essential in
rendering the system stable and in maintaining its position
even after the desired heading and surge were attained. It
might even be considered as the settling time for the system
that allows the controllers to stabilize the vehicle. More-
over, it also helped in collection of localized bathymetry
and associated oceanographic data.
A straight course mission with desired surge of 40 m in
the north direction and 20 m in the south direction con-
stituted the first experiment. A depth of 5 m was taken as
the reference for diving. According to the mission profile,
the AUV was required to align itself in the north direction
(0 heading) and settle for 0.5 min and subsequently move
for 20 m in the same direction and settle for 1.5 min after
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228 223

Fig. 6 Response of system over

time during diving

covering up the desired distance. It repeated the same Achieving greater depths
motion for another 20 m in the north direction. Finally, the Demonstrating obstacle detection and avoidance
vehicle should move 20 m in south direction. The surge Demonstrating underwater tracking and acoustic
and heading performance of the control system is illus- communication
trated as under in Fig. 5. The alternate yellow and pink Improving navigation and control algorithms and
bands represent the heading and surge corrections for each testing
particular segment as read from the mission file. Figure 6 Logging GPS/INS aided Side-Scan SONAR data for
depicts the response of the system during diving operation. better mapping
Underwater video captured through onboard camera Endurance tests.
confirms the presence of boulders on the lake floor as
Test was carried within a band of 500 9 500 m2 area
shown in Fig. 7.
with the launching point close to 9.802N/76.894E. The
Figure 8 depicts a snapshot of the data from the Side Scan
average altimetry observed was close to 15 m ranging from
SONAR. Each grid is of 3.75 m on both sides of its central
as low as 8 m towards the banks to as high as 26 m towards
axis. The snapshot implies that there was a layer of boulders
the middle of the lake. Various mission trials were carried
and rocks on the sea floor whose presence forces almost
out to validate the performance of controllers as well as
abrupt changes in the altimetry trace at certain locations.
logging data for underwater terrain mapping, capturing
During the second phase of the lake trials, the major
underwater images and videos and collection of physical
emphasis remained in overcoming the shortcomings of first
characteristics with CTD profiler.
lake trials, which may be summarized as:
Surge control while diving underwater often gets
impaired due to incorrect positional information from the
INS. This is mainly due to the non-availability of GPS
correction while underwater and the fact that positional
errors from INS tend to accumulate over time. It is there-
fore essential to aid the INS with DVL for better and
consistent position data which helps to achieve better
control.
During second phase missions like Lawn-mower, square
loop as well as straight course to-and-fro was undertaken
having durations ranging to 45 min with ranges up to
250 m and sweeps of 120 9 60 m2.
Fig. 7 Underwater VideoA Snapshot

Fig. 8 Graphical view of data

collected by Side Scan SONAR

123
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A straight to-and-fro course covering 40 m along east
and 20 m along west was achieved by the AUV at a depth
of 8 m. It was found that depth correction suffers from
minimal oscillations. This is achieved through incorpora-
tion of settling time for the depth controller and elimination
of pitching effect with the help of differential thrust.
During the Lawn Mower mission, a surface operation
was carried out to perform effective underwater terrain
mapping by Side Scan SONAR over a large area of
30 9 60 m2. Figure 9 represents the plot of the reference
path (dotted line) and the observed path (squares) followed
by the AUV. Deviations from reference path arise from the
presence of surface currents that affects the position of the
vehicle mainly during station-keeping points when only
heading correction takes place. Critically damped position
control was achieved during the mission. Mapping of the
lake floor was done effectively with GPS aided Side Scan
SONAR. Figure 10 represents the altimetry plot of the lake
floor during the Lawn Mower mission.
Fig. 9 Path plotting of a Lawn mower mission
Fig. 10 A plot of altimetry for
Lawn mower mission
123
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228
Towards the end of the trials, the AUV was tested for
relatively deep water operation. This was the pivotal trial in
comparison to the maximum depth of 5 m as achieved
during the first phase of the lake trials. A few secondary
objectives such as recording variations of temperature and
conductivity were also included.
The depth of 20 m was achieved within estimated
response time of 100 s. The average heave speed was
observed to be 0.2 m/s as depicted in Fig. 11 through CTD
data. The hovering operation was conducted along with
dive from a launching position recorded as 9.80293N
latitude/76.894302E longitude.
Observations from second Phase Lake Trials can be
summarized as follows:
Attaining depth of 20 m
Underwater tracking of the vehicle possible through
USBL positioning system
Forward looking SONAR could detect obstacles within
a range of 30 m and within a viewing angle of 50
Better surge control with improved positional accuracy
could be achieved through integration of INS data with
GPS and DVL data
Data logged from the Side Scan SONAR was clubbed
with positional data as received from GPS and INS.
Sea Trials off Chennai Coast
After successful sheltered water lake trials, sea trials were
conducted at Chennai coast of Bay of Bengal on-board ship
Sagar Nidhi during July 2011 with active support from
NIOT, Chennai. It needs to be mentioned here that sea
trials were conducted in three phases, with objectives as
cited below:
Dry and soak tests for vehicle integrity on Sagar Nidhi
Progressive depth qualifications for up to 150 m
Sea-bed mapping with Side Scan SONAR
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228 225

22 Physical verification and recording the remarks as pre-

20 dive requisites before powering up AUV-150
18 After powering the system, performance checks have
16
been made as pre-operational dry test
14
After deployment in water, critical monitoring param-
Depth (m)

12
eters have been checked and recorded as pre-opera-
10
tional wet test
8
After the pre-operational tests, the system has been
6
4
tested for its operation according to a test plan
2
After completion of the mission, checks have been
0 performed as post-dive requisites to verify the
-2 physical and functional status of the system
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
Time (sec) AUV diving for sub-sea tests and retrieval operations
are shown in Fig. 13.
Fig. 11 Depth reading from CTD sensor
In the following discussion, we present details of the
results obtained during the sea trials of the AUV-150. The
CTD Profiling at various pressure levels
depth corrections observed during each of the deep water
Autonomous navigation via pre-defined trajectories
trials, the way point trajectories, the data collected by the
Exceptional leakage handling capability
CTD sensor, instantaneous velocities noted from the INS
Acoustic tracking and communication of AUV-150
and the DVL etc. are presented.
Figure 12 illustrates a snapshot of the research vessel Sagar The depth controller maintained a constant difference
Nidhis working deck and the launching of AUV-150 into sea between the observed and the reference depths. Therefore,
waters with the help of A-frame. Various operational plans for a reference depth of 81 m (deliberately decided for
were defined for the overall sea-worthiness of AUV-150. achieving an actual depth of 80 m), the AUV-150 exhibited
a critically damped characteristics during the sea-trial as
Specific Trial Operations shown in Fig. 14. This was indeed a better performance
obtained in comparison to the lake trials. This was possibly
The specific trial operations carried out during the sea trials because of the near accurate balancing obtained by the
including system checks were: greater positive buoyancy provided by sea water having

Fig. 12 Snapshot of deck on

ship Sagar Nidhi (L) and
launching AUV-150 with an
A-frame (R)

Fig. 13 Diving for sub-sea tests

and retrieval operation

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226 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228

Fig. 14 Dive correction for

80 m with roll stabilization

Fig. 15 Dive correction for

150 m with roll stabilization

0
correction for 150 m (Fig. 15), which has been achieved in
the form of passive control implemented mechanically
through design. Roll stabilization has ultimately been sig-
Temperature
(0 Corresponds to Surface)

nificantly helpful in performing SONAR based seabed

Depth From Sea Surface

Conductivity
-50
mapping and bathymetric profiling.
The CTD profiler has observed a temperature variation
of about 11 C (from 29 C on the surface to 18 C at a
depth of 150 m) as depicted in Fig. 16. Conductivity varied
-100 from 57 mmho/cm while on the surface to 46 mmho/cm at
a depth of 150 m.
Mapping was effectively performed using Side Scan
SONAR. Contour maps have been generated and 3D ren-
-150 dering for a surface has been developed (as shown in
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Temperature and Conductivity
Fig. 17) as a representation of the underwater terrain.
Positional information of the vehicle like heading, depth
Fig. 16 Conductivity and temperature data from CTD and Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates
have been fused with data obtained from SONAR. The
surface is generated over an area within the UTM zone of
greater density as well as the accurately computed thrusts P44 (1470883.576 Northing, 452521.915 Easting). The
from the depth controller. Alongside, vehicle roll is also surface represents a continental shelf and the illustrated
seen to be quite restricted within 05 during a depth elevation is as observed by the AUV at a depth of 150 m.

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C (JulySeptember 2012) 93(3):217228
Fig. 17 Sea-bed terrain generated from fusion of sensors
Overall Conclusions from the Sea-Trials
Several experiments with the vehicle yielded numerous
observations; a few relevant inferences made during the
trial tenure to some during post trial analysis and may be
summarized as follows:
AUV-150 suffered from considerable drifts due to high
currents and surface operations were impossible
Subsea pressure hulls did not spring any leakage
AUV-150 exhibited considerable roll stability with near
accurate depth corrections
Depth of 150 m was achieved (ensured from CTD and
depth sensor data)
Underwater tracking and acoustic communication with
USBL positioning system was performed whenever
vehicle was within acoustic range
Satisfactory CTD profiling resulting in observations for
variations in conductivity and temperature
On-board sensors like PHINS, DVL, depth sensor and
altimeter exhibited functional consistency and integrity
Hovering and heading efforts to keep AUV-150 at a
certain position/at a depth or perform surge operations
during different missions were successful
Underwater terrain data was logged successfully by
Side Scan SONAR. Data logging from the forward
looking SONAR (FLS) was also successful
Video from underwater camera was acquired
Conclusions
An operational, torpedo shaped, modular and structurally
efficient shallow water AUV having five degrees of free-
dom was developed considering diverse design aspects.
The propulsion and associated control scheme designed for
thrusters mounted at appropriate locations to allow hover-
ing of AUV at a particular depth while performing seabed
227
mapping. The AUV was powered by lithium polymer
battery pack residing inside a pressure hull. Navigation
autonomy was achieved by using an integrated sensor
framework consisting of INS, DVL and GPS. Acoustic
positioning of the AUV while submerged was established
with USBL technology integrated with acoustic modem.
SONAR based collision detection was utilized for local
path planning.
Extensive trials were carried out in sheltered waters at
lakes followed by sea trials for depth qualifications and
sea-worthiness.
The AUV-150 exhibited considerable roll stability and
leak-withstanding capability and was found capable of
efficient navigation while on a mission; post processing of
collected data validated the excellent performance of the
AUV-150.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to express their grati-
tude to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India for having
sponsored the AUV-150 project. The authors thank NIOT and NPOL
for their active support during experimentation. The authors would
like to acknowledge the support of the entire Robotics and Automa-
tion group and other members of CSIR-CMERI associated in the
AUV project for their active cooperation.
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