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FRoSt Lab
Field Robotic Systems Lab

Hovering AUV

A fully autonomous underwater vehicle used to collect data and test novel mapping, localization, and planning algorithms.

Our AUV Design

This AUV serves as our main underwater testing vehicle. Its modular 80/20-based design, 3D-printed parts, and easily accessible enclosures allows for flexibility in testing both new hardware and software configurations. It is also easy to transport and operate at a size of approximately 31" x 24" x 18".

Our vehicle is equipped with a wide variety of sensors for collecting environmental data, including sonar, stereo cameras, a doppler velocity log (DVL), an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and a GPS antenna. It also hosts significant on-board processing, containing an NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier, a PYNQ board, and two Raspberry Pi units. Power is distributed throughout the vehicle from its four 266 Wh batteries using custom-printed circuit boards. Its eight 11 lbf thrusters allow it to both travel quickly and hover steadily in most underwater environments.