Mechanical Structure

The top and bottom hulls are coupled to the frame by means of a spring loaded locking pin. The vehicle can be dismantled into a frame and two tubes in a matter of minutes for easy transport and shipping.

The vehicle is designed and further trimmed to be slightly buoyant (for safety reasons). Two thrusters in the fore and aft provide altitude control, while another two provides horizontal propulsion as well as directional control. A hermetically sealed kill switch will disconnect power to the thrusters when activated.

The bottom fore section of the vehicle is reserved for mission specific sensors and payloads. A Doppler Velocity Log (DVL – explained in later section), mounted in this section, is considered an integral part of the vehicle platform as it provides crucial information to be used by the vehicle’s feedback control system and environmental monitoring.