Design of omni-directional underwater robotic vehicle

Underwater robotic vehicles have been attractive to many applications. Among potential applications of these vehicles include fishery, underwater pollution monitoring, and waste cleaning and handling in the ocean as well as nuclear sites. Over the last decade, there has been increasing R&D effort toward more advanced and intelligent underwater vehicles in support of a variety of applications. In the Autonomous Systems Laboratory, an omni-directional intelligent navigator (ODIN) which has dual (autonomous/remote) operational modes and a mechanical manipulator, was designed as a part of the research in developing a real-time 3D graphic, integrated test platform for advanced vehicle technologies. RSI Research Ltd. manufactured the first model which is described in this paper