A Flat Design and a Validated Model for an AUV Reconfigurable Magnetic Coupling Thruster

Reconfigurable Magnetic Coupling Thruster (RMCT) is an enabling technology for achieving vectorial thrust on AUVs. This allows us to dispose of dynamic, compliant, and secure propulsion to enhance their agility for demanding locomotion tasks. RMCT can generate and control a thrust vector by redirecting its propeller through the compliance of the magnetic coupling and therefore achieve thrust vectoring for AUVs. In this paper, a new design of RMCT is presented. This new prototype uses a flat geometry magnetic coupling for a better AUV full integrability. The new design provides some additional advantages with regard to its predecessor (spherical RMCT); namely, construction simplicity and better torque transmission. The first characteristic is derived from its flat shapes, which makes it easier to manufacture (cubic magnets) and to isolate (planar air gap between rotors). The second characteristic is due to the fact that now both parts of the magnetic coupling can store magnets (increasing the maximal transmitted torque). This paper proposes a thruster dynamics model, a magnetic coupling model, and shows the use of a dynamic parameter identification method based on algorithms used for robotic manipulators. The validity of the dynamic model and identified parameters is then analyzed by means of experimental tests.

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