Early stage design of a spherical underwater robotic vehicle

Abstract

This paper presents a high performance autonomous underwater robot under development for inspection of flooded mines up to 500 meters depth. Underwater robots have multiple advanced subsystems and mechanisms. Initial structure design of subsystems and their functions are demonstrated here briefly. In addition, Hydrodynamic coefficients that contribute to robot equation of motion are addressed. The advantage of utilizing spherical design is verified by applying simplification to determine the main coefficient of motion theoretically.