ROAZ and ROAZ II Autonomous Surface Vehicle Design and Implementation

International Lifesaving Congress 2007, La Coruna, Spain, December, 2007The design and implementation of the ROAZ and ROAZ II autonomous surface vehicles (ASV) is presented. These systems were developed at Autonomous Systems Lab, ISEP/IPP – Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto under a research program in marine robotics. With multiple applications either in river and estuarine environments or in the sea, the system applications in search and rescue operations are addressed and were taken in consideration for the overall system design. Mechanical design issues are discussed. Hardware, software and implementation status are described along with the control and navigation system architecture. The real time vision processing system is described and results are presented in operational scenario

ROAZ Autonomous Surface Vehicle Design and Implementation

The design of an Autonomous Surface Vehicle for operation in river and estuarine scenarios is presented. Multiple operations with autonomous underwater vehicles and support to AUV missions are one of the main design goals in the ROAZ system. The mechanical design issues are discussed. Hardware, software and implementation status are described along with the control and navigation system architecture. Some preliminary test results concerning a custom developed thruster are presented along with hydrodynamic drag calculations by the use of computer fluid dynamic methods