Development of glider type small AUV SeaBird

Generally experiments in a test tank are carried out in advance to get the dynamic characteristic of underwater robots, and various motion control laws are evaluated based on obtained dynamics of the robot. In this study, we made a small and lightweight AUV as a testbed for control performance evaluation. The AUV has two modes, "cruising mode" in which the motion is controlled by lift force of the main wings, and "hovering mode" controls the heave motion by rotating both thrusters to vertical direction. Mounted instruments are limited in necessary minimum quantity aiming at the smaller AUV. In the AUV, two servo motors and two thrusters are mounted for motion control. The servo motors control the angles of thrusters and main wings, where the two thrusters are attached.