Ictiobot-40 a low cost AUV platform for acoustic imaging surveying

Abstract

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are suitable platforms for a wide type of applications in the oceanic environment. These applications are developed in various fields such as scientific surveying, off-shore industry and defense. The employment of AUVs requires less human support and reduces operation costs. Due to the changing marine environment these vehicles must deal with uncertain and hostile conditions to perform its tasks. In the marine robotics matter, the INTELYMEC group has developed in 2012 an AUV prototype called Ictiobot, a low cost experimental platform for multipurpose missions. In this paper an upgrade of the original prototype is presented, the Ictiobot-40, conceived to perform acoustic imaging surveying missions of up to two hours and maximum depths of 40 meters. The new software and hardware architectures and mechanical structure improvements, are detailed. In addition to these technical details, initial experimental results of the AUV performance in quiet waters will be discussed. Also, the new approaches for systems under development are presented.