クワッド型水中ドローンの機体設計

抄録

Underwater robots typically employ propellers as their propulsion system; they also have steering mechanisms and additional actuation devices to be used for such as maintaining their intended posture. On the other hand, many of the aerial drones are equipped only with four propellers; still they have enough ability to freely fly in the air. Suppressing the number of propellers also contributes to their cost-effectiveness. In this report, we present a design of a quad-thruster-type underwater drone that has a corresponding movement capabilities to the aerial drones. The proposed underwater drone is capable of maintaining its posture in motion in every direction: forward, backward, left, right, upward, and downward. Unlike conventional underwater robots relying on steering mechanisms, this drone takes advantage of the negative buoyancy in order to attain such motion capabilities. This study involves a fundamental investigation into the stable translational movement of the proposed underwater vehicle, focusing on posture control such as hovering behavior. The conceptual design, the embodiment design and the detailed design of the proposed underwater vehicle are explained. This study will also introduce the characteristics of the proposed ROV design and innovative ideas based on preliminary experiments.