Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) have been developed by the Unmanned Vehicle Laboratory of the University of São Paulo since 2014, inheriting results obtained from research into Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), which the same laboratory has worked on since 2008.
The first ROV prototype, Mandí, was completed in 2014 for inspecting hydroelectric plant turbines. Improvements to the original vehicle design were implemented in 2017, notably the new onboard electronics and firmware, allowing adaptation to a wider variety of payloads and applications. A qualitative laser dimension measurement system was also added. This resulted in the ROV “Mandí II”.
For the development of a new ROV, “Dourado”, more powerful thrusters than those of Mandí II are being developed, which will allow obtaining an ROV with a level of suitability comparable to current commercial inspection vehicles for offshore inspection.
ROV Mandí II
- Approximate weight out of water: 30 kg
- Dimensions: 0.57 m (L) x 0.38 m (W) x 0.38 m (H)
- Maximum operating depth: 50 m
- Umbilical cable length: 70 m
- Umbilical diameter: 0.018 m
- Umbilical weight/buoyancy ratio: Neutral
- Propulsion and maneuvering: 6 thrusters – 4 horizontal and 2 vertical
- Forward bollard thrust (diamond configuration): 18 kgf
- Reverse bollard thrust: 12 kgf
- Submergence bollard thrust: 14 kgf
- Emergence bollard thrust: 6 kgf
- Power supply: 220 VAC, maximum power of 3.3 kW
- Camera: FULL HD resolution (1920×1080) at 30 fps with night vision, tilt control with a range of 60o
- Lighting: LEDs with a total power of 9 W
- Navigation: Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) and depth sensor
- Obstacle detection sonar: 360o scanning
- Laser system for qualitative geometric measurement
- Operator interface: Toughbook with screens for forward and rear cameras, sonar, propulsion power indicators, depth measurements, angular position and attitude indicators, as well as flooding alerts
- Embedded processing system:
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- Signal processing resources and computational power with 90 MIPS, 32 kB of RAM, and 128 kB of FLASH memory
- Digital communication interfaces: 2 x CAN, 2 x EIA RS-232, 1 x EIA RS-422, 1 x Ethernet, 1 x SPI, 1 x I2C
- 3 analog voltage/current inputs
- 2 analog outputs -10V/+10V
- 4 digital outputs 5V/12V
- 3 digital inputs
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ROV Mandí II