The SAUV II is the second generation Solar Autonomous Underwater Vehicles from the joint work of Falmouth Scientific, Inc., Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute and Technology Systems Inc. and some Navy involvement.
It is a pretty impressive craft. It says you can buy them from Falmouth Scientific...wonder what the cost would be? Looks expensive and hi-end.
It uses Slackware (score one for open source) and PC104 boards as brains. Wonder if there is a cheaper solution...might be pretty cheap already as far as brain power/cost goes.
The sensors and communications pieces are probably the most expensive bits. The price for some of the satellite GPS Argos-based trackers seems to be $2-5k....
some of the details: (from http://www.ausi.org/publications/JalbertEtal2003.pdf) or here
Fiberglass body
Wing with solar panels made with syntactic foam.
(2) BP 585 Solar Panels (Maximum power (Pmax): 85W, Voltage at Pmax (Vmp): 18.0V, Current at Pmax (lmp): 4.72A -- Panel weight: 13.4 pounds)
Total Vehicle: Length = 78" Width = 47”
Pressure tube: Length = 46” ID = 8” OD = 9”
Weight in air: 370 lbs
Buoyancy (net) = 2 lbs
Max operating depth = 500 meters
Speed: 0.75 to 3 knots
Endurance: week to months
Energy source: Li-Ion battery (2kWh) with Solar
Panel charging at sea and Gas Gauge monitoring
of battery system.
Communications:
Iridium Satellite phone
FreeWave radio modem
Acoustic modem
Navigation: GPS with Dead Reckoning
Thruster: Vectored thruster
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Wednesday, 8th of September 2010
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Wednesday, 8th of September 2010
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