Study on Design, Analysis and Control an Underwater Thruster for Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV)

Unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) is a type of robot that operates underwater for multi purposes such as underwater exploration purpose, hydro-meteorological exploration, and military purposes…. One of the most important part in the UUV is its thruster. This paper presents the design, analysis and control results of an underwater thruster of 300 W, which can be used for a small-sized UUV. The underwater thruster is designed by integrating different modules and built according to each system from mechanical design, hardware design, and control algorithm to ensure the thruster can operate underwater continuously in the depth of 100 m lifespan (equal to 145 psi) for long time. The thruster use magnetic coupling for waterproof and also can perform the overload protection for thruster. The housing and magnetic coupling were analyzed by using finite element analysis to optimize the thickness of the housing in deep water level. The mathematical model and simulation result of the speed control using PID and Fuzzy controllers are also presented.