Design of the Multi - Role Springer Unmanned Surface Vehicle

An unmanned surface vehicle named Springer is being developed at the University of Plymouth to conduct environmental and geographical surveys in shallow waters. An equally important secondary role envisaged for Springer is as a platform for other marine research groups to test their own systems onboard the vehicle. This paper highlights Springer hardware and software architecture including various navigational sensors, speed controller and an environmental monitoring unit. Details regarding the development of a fault tolerant multisensor data fusion technique are also outlined. Moreover, a control strategy based on a linear quadratic Gaussian with loop transfer recovery theory is presented which is to be implemented in Springer for track keeping.