euRathlon 2015
Scenario Application Paper
Sea Trial (S1): Navigation and
environmental survey
Team OUBOT
Miklos Kozlovszky
Óbuda University
kozlovszky.miklos@nik.uni-obuda.hu
euRathlon 2015
SAP for S1
Team OUBOT
Abstract
In this paper, we introduce a Sparus II, which is a commercially available platform designed for
underwater missions. We show the basic features, and characteristics of the Sparus and describe
how we plan to tackle the challenges of euRathlon 2015.
Introduction
The OUBOT team is formed by three teams of Obuda University: Antal Bejczy Center for
Intelligent Robotics (ABC), John von Neumann Faculty of Informatics (NIK), and Biotech
Knowledge Center (BTTK). Basically, ABC has strong expertise in human like robots, NIK is
strong in UAVs and BTTK is good in programming and data aquisition. Our members are:
Tamás Haidegger PhD, Levente Kovács PhD, Teréz A. Várkonyi PhD, Bence Takács, Roland
Dóczi, János Kalló, Gábor Kiss, and Balázs Sütő.
This is our first competition. Since our main research domains include Robotics, we are happy to
try our knowledge in real challenges.
How to deal with the challenge
In mission S1 (Navigation and environmental survey), we first plan to investigate underwater
currents to be able to navigate more precisely. After that, based on the data of the multibeam, we
plan to do a SLAM. The data of the multibeam is converted to a pointcloud and then the
pointcloud is processed. The OPIs are planned to be detected with camera and when they are
found, distance is determined by an echo sonar. The image of the camera is planned to be
processed by several filters so that the best quality is achieved.
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euRathlon 2015
SAP for S1
Team OUBOT
Important issues and questions
Vehicle
We use a Sparus II, which is a commercially available platform. Its
main characteristics are: torpedo-shape movement which provides
efficient hydrodynamics, hovering that gives high maneuverability,
and it is lightweight (52 kg). Maximum depth for it is 200 m. Its
dimensions are: 160x460x230 mm. It has 2 horizontal fins (in development). It has 5 DoF: surge,
heave, yaw, pitch (in development), and roll (in development). It has a 29.6V, 49.4Ah,1.4KWh
Li-Ion battery pack which gives 8-10 hours of autonomy. It uses 3 thrusters: 2 horizontal and 1
vertical, brushless DC motors with RS-485 sensor-less drivers, with magnetic coupling and 3
blade Kaplan propellers with duct.
Processing
The Sparus has a PC104 embedded computer with SSD with the followings:

RS232 board and RS-485

8 port Ethernet switch for payload or 2nd computer

WiFi access point and Ethernet umbilical

Internal industrial connector for disassembly

Underwater
connectors
for
charging,
ethernet, actuators, payload, …
The Sparus can be programmed through Robot
Operating System (ROS). It has a strong support
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euRathlon 2015
SAP for S1
Team OUBOT
and it is well interpreted in an underwater simulator called UWSim. These are open source
programs and can be downloaded and programmed easily.
Communication
Sparus has WiFi access point and Ethernet umbilical, everything is commercial. 100mThe
maximum communication range is 100m. The weather can, of course, reduce this distance. At
this point, in case of communication failures, the AUV stops every action and comes to the
surface.
Acoustic communication is not used in any sense.
Inter-domain cooperations are planned to be achieved through a control station in ROS.
Localization
For localization we use a multibeam, an echo- and a mechanical sonar. We have an embedded
OEM DVL.
Sensing
Most of the sensors are integrated in the beck cone module (LinkQuest or RDI).
We use IMU from Analog Devices based on MEMS tech. (6º/hr gyroscope drift) and a pressure
sensor from Keller (I2C interface; 0.15% FC
accuracy). A home-made USB camera is
integrated in the front.
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euRathlon 2015
SAP for S1
Team OUBOT
Vehicle Control
The vehicle is able to do the standard manoeuvres and programmed to follow google waypoints
and walls. Mapping and obstacle avoidance is under construction. The vehicle is fully
autonomous. It has one safety light and a turn-off switch.
System Readiness
The system is fully functional; some of the sensors are to be bought. The Sparus was tested in a
pool before delivering to Hungary. We have not tried it water since then. Considering this fact we
would you rate the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of hardware and software to 4. If we
consider the test abroad, we would rate it to 8.
The team plans to conduct field tests at a lake nearby in the next month.
Our main difficulty is the low distance of our sensors and cameras.
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