Design and Simulation of the Hull of a Small-Sized Autonomous Surface Vehicle for Seabed Mapping

Abstract

Autonomous Surface Vehicles are versatile marine vehicles that allow to fulfill a variety of offshore activities. Their versatility has been appreciated by the marine and aquatic science community, in fact, in the last years, a large number of ASVs have been developed in research projects and introduced in the market. In this paper, the design and simulation of a small-sized ASV for seabed mapping of shallow waters are described. The vehicle is characterized by catamaran shape, low draft, jet-drive propellers that allow its deployment from the shore, and a payload of 20 kg. The design process has been carried out with the aim to realize a vehicle characterized by ease of transportability and deployment, available payload and performance in terms of speed and endurance. Three hull types have been modelled in a computer-aided design environment and then optimized through fluid dynamics analysis for a cruise speed of 1.5 kN. The results of these simulations have been used to choose the best hull shape in terms of resistance, in order to comply with the constraints of autonomy and available payload. Finally, a scaled model of the best hull shape has been then tested in a circulating water channel to validate simulation data.