Project Description

The main objective of this project is to design and develop an Inspection-class Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that can operate in ocean conditions for inspection and surveillance purpose, to create a repository of the images and inspection data collected underwater. Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are mobile robots, which find their advantage in various underwater applications like surveillance and inspection of head race tunnels, ocean floor exploration, search, and rescue operation. Team Starboard has successfully developed one such inspection class ROV named ORCA for primary application of inspection underwater, specifically, inspection of silt detection inside the head race tunnels. Orca is an open frame low-cost ROV, 500 x 350 x 210 cm in dimension and weighs 8 kgs , built using HDPE and is neutrally buoyant. To enclose the electronics a watertight acrylic enclosure with Aluminum end caps were used. It is mounted with Six Blue Robotics T200 thrusters where four thrusters were vectored at 45° helping in the horizontal motion along with two vertical thrusters to dive. The vehicle can surge, sway, dive, roll and head actively. A voltage of 14.8V from the battery has been stepped down to 5V by using a buck converter to power up the electronics and the sensors of the system. ORCA is equipped with a DS18B20 temperature sensor and DFRobot analog pressure sensor to study the temperature and pressure variations underwater respectively. The 9-axis Honeywell HG1120 IMU mounted on the electronic tray gives us the vehicle’s current acceleration, gyroscope and magnetometer readings along x, y and z axes respectively. A PID control system was implemented to minimize the positional errors and drift of the vehicle. “MOOS-IvP”, a robust software architecture predominantly used for autonomous operation has been incorporated into the system for precise navigation and control which enables shuffling between remote and autonomous modes of operation. A Blue Robotics Low Light HD USB camera is also mounted in the vehicle for live streaming and capture of images underwater. A detailed simulation analysis of the vehicle was carried to ensure that the vehicle was sturdy and intact to handle the challenging ocean conditions.  Preliminary tests such as buoyancy test, leak test, and bench test were successfully carried, and the vehicle was deployed in a nearby pool and easily maneuvered.