Increasing the operating depth of an autonomous underwater vehicle using an intelligent magnetic field

Abstract

Designing and manufacturing a suitable body is one of the most effective factors in increasing the efficiency of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In fact, increasing the propulsive power of an AUV by reducing the frictional drag on its body and increasing its maneuverability will positively affect key parts of the AUV’s hardware and software such as control system, sensors, AUV vision, batteries and thrusters. On the other hand, a suitable body should have features such as lightness, underwater vehicle’s balance, high mechanical strength, and enough space for equipment. Therefore, the design and manufacture of the body requires a lot of analysis in terms of body material, aerodynamic calculations, etc., increases the overall cost. This paper aims to reduce the stress in the body of a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) underwater robot and to increase its operating depth without changing the body’s structure by using fuzzy logic to intelligently controlling the magnetic force generated by the repulsion between the coil and the cylindrical magnet, which saves energy, reduces battery consumption, and increases system performance. The results show that the robot performance depth increases by more than 50% without changing the robot body structure.