Publication
Design of a Compact, Agile AUV with Large Thrust-to-Weight Ratio
Marc Hildebrandt
In: 2024 IEEE OES AUV Symposium. IEEE/OES Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV-2024), located at 2024 IEEE OES AUV Symposium, September 18-20, Boston, Ma, USA, IEEE/OES, 2024.
Abstract
This work aims to explore very small AUVs with a large thrust-to-weight ratio and under-actuated control mechanisms. The aspects of design, control, autonomy, navigation and usability was studied. Typical AUV systems have a relatively small thrust-to-weight ratio and consequently relatively low maximum speeds and accelerations. Typical values are 0,078 (100N/1275N) for the DeepLeng AUV , 0,054 (16N/294N) for the Remus AUV and 0,044 (120N/2698N) for the FlatFish AUV. For this project the design of a AUV
called ”Arrow” is proposed with a much larger thrust and significantly reduced weight, resulting in a thrust-to-weight ratio larger than 1. This significant increase in relative thrust should enable the vehicle to perform maneuvers impossible for other AUVs, which in turn could lead to a number of new applications.