Deep Flight

Our design addresses the need of an electronic and software architecture to be implemented into the underwater vehicle prototype developed by the UVS robotarium laboratory. Using a set of components supplied by our sponsor, with the goal of reducing cost, enhancing system integration and creating a user-friendly system that future students can develop on top of.

Underwater vehicle project is very special autopilot system integration and application project. It is an automation system using Pixhawk 4 controller ,QGround control software, communicating with the underwater vehicle system through Fathom X Tether Interface and its tether cable. The ground control system using Fathom X tether interface to establish the ethernet network communication with the underwater vehicle. Fathom x tether interface will network connect to Raspberry pi with a Companion software. Then the Raspberry pi connects to Pixhawk 4 using a microUSB port. There a power management board beside Pixhawk 4 to supply the power to some peripherals and pass Pixhawk 4 control signals to end devices, such as Pololu motor controller, thrusters, servos, and grippers. This project design has broad coverage of the integration and application of Pixhawk 4,QGround control system, RaspBerry Pi, Pi Connect serial connection design, thrusters twisted pair serial connection design, Power Management Board PWM signal controls, MAVlink protocol applications. The Open Systems interconnection mode is used to establish, design and test the system connection on different communication and network layers.

The hardware design establishes an effective and fast communication between the Ground Control Computer and the vehicle where users can interface with the motors, servos, etc. The power management board safely distributes the power requirements of each component.

The design of the software architecture can be easily integrated for future developments of the project. This currently interacts with most of the components in our systems.

To validate our design solution, we used a performance evaluation table. To understand the details about the minimum amount of power supply each equipment needed as well as the values that needed to be assigned for the parameters, several trials where conducted. Eventually, we decided to validate our tests in two separate ways:
Software: Tests were conducted to confirm that there are communication signals being sent from the ground control station to the underwater vehicle. These tests were mostly unit testing and system testing by specifying different pre-calculated values as arguments for the tests.
Hardware: Tests were conducted using performance evaluation metrics that were discussed by the teammates prior to the tests. The design was considered accepted if each component worked according to the pre-defined tests. If not, the system was modified to give the desired results.

Throughout the project, we kept an emphasis on system integration. This was due to the end goal of establishing a user friendly interaction between the user and the vehicle. This will also allow the future teams to smoothly reach the end goals of the project.

Our deliverables include:

• A detailed electrical system design layout to power and interface with all the components of the robot including electric motors, sensors, on-board computers, and communication modules. This also includes an electrical user manual describing all electrical circuits and diagrams.
• A complete set of software protocols and libraries to operate the robot from a ground control station via effective Ethernet communication to the vehicle.

We maintained a strict check on the total cost and durability of this robot. Most of the components have come from BlueRobotics. They sell these components for a reasonable price and ensure high quality. Due to this, the chances of water damage in the boards or other components have been reduced and the water drag resistant tether cable ensures smoother traveling for the robot.