Design of Communication and Power Systems in Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

Unmanned underwater vehicles (ROV/AUV) are robotic systems that can float underwater, are autonomous and remotely controlled. The first unmanned underwater vehicle on record was designed by Luppis Whitehead Automobile in the form of a torpedo in 1864. The first vehicle designed in the same sense used today was designed by Dimitri Rebikoff in 1953. Today, unmanned underwater vehicles are used in a wide range of areas such as underwater search and rescue operations, ship underwater maintenance and repair operations, taking images from dangerous environments where divers cannot enter, military use, inspection of wrecks and underwater cleaning. The design stages of underwater vehicle control system are given in this study. The system consists of control cards, communication modules, sensors, lighting and power electronics elements. The basic philosophies followed for the design of the system are modularity and safety. This situation provides ease in the organization of the components in the underwater vehicle as well as the modular structure, the test and repair stages are easily carried out. To ensure modularity, the system is divided into two subcomponents as power and control units. In addition, a computer interface is used to control the underwater vehicle. With this interface, data is exchanged with underwater vehicles so that the depth, water temperature and temperature of the sealed tube containing the electronic components can be monitored. Another task of the computer interface is to transfer the camera image taken from underwater to the user. In this study, the remote control of unmanned underwater vehicles, the power system, communication infrastructure, the design of the structure that provides the transmission of the image and sensor information taken from underwater is mentioned.