Date of Award

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2024

Departments

Computer Science and Engineering; Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Christopher Kitts

Second Advisor

Michael Neumann

Abstract

Ocean health monitoring is crucial for maintaining the health of the ocean ecosystem. Currently, divers are deployed to collect data manually, which is both time and resource-consuming. Additionally, this process poses significant dangers to the divers. Therefore, a more efficient method for collecting oceanic data is needed. This thesis describes the design of a novel autonomous marine vehicle, the waypoint profiler. Launched from shore with scientific sensors, it autonomously navigates to ocean locations of interest and dives to measure key ocean health markers. The system integrates subsystems for scientific sensing, health monitoring, structural integrity, communications, and navigation/control, tailored to meet stakeholder needs such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), the US Army Corps of Engineers, and Occidental College. The Scientific sensing subsystem measures water temperature and captures water samples. The Health subsystem tracks battery levels and detects leaks. The Structural subsystem protects components and supports operation in various conditions. The Navigation and Control subsystem uses GPS and thrusters for precise movement. Extensive testing and validation were conducted to ensure the system's performance and reliability. The results show a partial success of our vehicle's ability to navigate to GPS waypoints and dive vertically to profile water columns. In the future, improvements can be made to the design of an internal charging system, eliminating the need to disassemble the vehicle to remove the batteries for charging. Another area for improvement is the cluster control capabilities, allowing one or more vehicles to be deployed and work collaboratively to complete tasks more efficiently.

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