Seagull — Designed for oceanographic research

Seagull is a small fully functional underwater glider designed for oceanographic research with 1 knot operating speed and six months duration. In this paper, we present the design of this glider and analyze its performance. The Seagull glider uses a piston-based buoyancy engine system with an inexpensive gear pump as the main system actuator. The Seagull's emergency release system is characterized for low power consumption. Towing experiments are performed to measure the accurate hydrodynamic coefficients of the glider. The operation of Seagull and the results of field trials in Qiandao Lake are reported.