The Modular Approach for Underwater Vehicle Design

The authors propose a new modular design of an underwater vehicle in the article. The core idea is the complete separation of an underwater vehicle on different self-sustaining modules with its control and power system. It is proposed that wireless technology will provide data and power transfer between modules. The approach might be useful for design low-cost underwater vehicles for surveying in shallow water (up to 100 meter depth) with different replaceable payload modules. The paper presents the principal design of modules and their joint. The communication system's design based on Bluetooth Mesh is presented. The experiment shows reliable data transmission up to 35mm in seawater and up to 100mm in seawater with plastic supports between module housings. The power management system is presented and discussed in the paper. The paper presents its overall design and the wireless power transfer system as the most critical node. The last one aims to unite batteries of all vehicle modules in the one “virtual” battery. It is shown that power transfer efficiency is up to 84% on distance 10mm between planar coils due to implementing the magnetic resonance method.