Marport Engineer Presents AUV Paper at IEEE Oceans Conference in Bremen
David Shea, a Marport AUV design engineer, recently presented a paper entitled “Prototype Development of the SQX-1 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle”. The paper’s abstract stated:
“As a leading provider of high-performance underwater acoustic technology, Marport is introducing to market next-generation sonar systems based on their advanced Software Defined Sonar (SDS) signal processing system. Seeking a demonstration platform for these new systems, Marport investigated existing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology, and identified a opportunity to develop an innovative new vehicle; the SQX-1 AUV.
The SQX-1 is a compact, lightweight AUV designed for search and survey applications in coastal waters up to 500 metres in depth. Employing a unique propulsion and control concept based on thrust vectoring, the SQX-1 is passively stable in pitch and roll, and features high manoeuvrability with capabilities such as hovering, and a zero-turning radius. Desiring a short to market lead-time, and necessitated by the unique features of the design, a rapid prototyping methodology was applied to the SQX-1 design cycle. The first phase of the design cycle dictates production of an “Alpha” prototype, developed to evaluate full-scale vehicle characteristics and to demonstrate the unique propulsion and control system. The development of this prototype and its key features are presented in this paper.”
David advises that over 40 people attended his presentation, and had plenty of questions. The SQX-1 generated a lot of interest, especially from the technical community. Most of the other AUV’s presented and discussed were “traditional torpedo designs”, so the Marport vehicle was definitely a point of much discussion.
David’s paper (in PDF format) can be downloaded by clicking the following link Prototype Development of the SQX-1 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.
Comments
Leave a Reply
