The Cooperative Robotic Watercraft (CRW) platform is a commercial smartphone based solution that leverages the built-in inertial and visual sensors of modern mobile devices for navigation and localization. The CRW's design is similar to that of an airboat with a modified steering mechanism in which the entire propulsion assembly is actuated using servo motors, allowing for improved thrust vectoring, which enables sharper turns.
The drive system and other electronics are interfaced to an Arduino microcontroller that communicates with the smartphone via Bluetooth. Most of the autonomy software resides on the phone while some of the application specic intelligence, such as the sampling algorithms, are implemented on a centralized operator interface that interacts with the individual vehicles via 3G or WiFi. Water quality sensors such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, specic conductivity and pH, are mounted on the vehicle and interfaced to the system through the Arduino. The camera on the smartphone provides real-time situational awareness about the operating environment using a steady stream of images that are processed through an image queue and displayed on the operator interface. A water sampling mechanism on board each vehicle has the ability to collect physical samples on demand for more detailed analysis in the laboratory.
Dimensions (LxWxH): 81 cm x 47cm x 10 cm
Weight: 6.92 Kg
Max Speed: 1.2 m/s
Thrust: 8N
Runtime: 4-8 hrs
Battery: NimMH, LiPo, SLA
Features: Autonomous mapping, Zero radius turns, Shallow draft, No underwater moving parts, 5MP camera, 3G/IMT-2000 and WiFi conectivity