Phoenix The Autonomous Underwater Robot Vehicle Project

The Autonomous Robot Vehicle Project (ARVP) started at the little cottage industry with the design, construction and promotion of autonomous robots and robotic technology. In preparation of this article, the robot upgraded to new systems and built new ones to expand the capabilities. A brand new electronics rack will allow for a more efficient use of space within the hull and to decrease the likelihood of wiring failure when the rack is placed inside of the hull. The passive Sonar system features four hydrophones and a custom built PCB to amplify and filter the signal and then send time-difference-of-arrival data to the embedded computer which then calculates the location of an acoustic pinger. A new main board was designed to accommodate the brand new Cold Fire Microcontroller. The power system was also improved by allowing each circuit board to regulate its own power down to an appropriate level in one step rather than multiple steps as in previous years. The software was designed to be as modular as possible, using a custom built framework called DisCo . This allows for easy communication between different, independent components such as the microcontroller and embedded computer which allows for more versatility within the system

Keywords:

Robots , Water , Testing , Sonar , Body , Part