The sub, dubbed Kraken, was designed to utilize principles of modularity, simplicity and efficiency. The Kraken is a low-cost, reliable, and adaptable platform for use in the demanding underwater environment. The main strengths of the robot are its COTS (commercial, off-the-shelf) design, minimal thermal and power demands, and modularity. The focus this year was taking the chassis developed last year and improving its reliability. The 2010-2011 San Diego City College (SDCC) robotics team further improved the robot by implementing a new propulsion system, improving the vision subsystem’s reliability and adding a full passive SONAR system. The Kraken will be able to successfully complete more missions at the 2011 RoboSub competition.
Here you see the evolution of our AUV over the past 3 competitions. For 2011 there were several improvements that were implemented that allowed us to become smaller and more competitive than ever. It really was an exciting year for our team and our possibilites. Of course like saying goes, we can only see over the mountains by standing on the shoulders of those who came before use. Here are the AUVs that paved the way for our group.
2010 – Dubbed, “The Kraken”
Some major changes are pretty evident. The Frame has taken a drastic change while still being slightly box like with cross beams to mount the different modules there are now two side plates that both contain the sub and supply the rigid support. The frame is now constructed of Delrin. Delrin is a lightweight plastic that still gives us the strength we need but also allows us to be a light weight AUV. Also gone is the 2 Motor and one Servo Design of the past 2 years, and it has been replaced by a more standard 6 motor configuration. The big difference is instead of using the much larger Seabotix motors we are using small brushless motors that are a fraction of the weight. This year our electronics platforms have bulked up, while this does add weight to our system it give the programmers more flexibility and hardware that is easier to use. This one step back will allow the design to take several steps forward in the future . Tucked into the frame are our hydrophone Array, cameras, dropper mechanism and a simple grabber system is attached to the bottom. The team is hopeful to make several strides with year with both Vision and Sonar.
2009 – Little Yellow Submarine
Our 2009 design morphed a bit from the previous Incarnation. We used the same frame while still dropping weight due to refining existing design features as well as an internal gutting of the system. The servo Box was replaced with a sealed Servo and bracket, and the Hammond Boxes were switched to Bright Yellow Otter Boxes. Also internally new batteries as well as an Electronics overhaul was completed. Several other enhancments were worked on, but without enough progress were shelved for furture use.
