Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle System for Bathymetric Measurements
Electrical Engineering
Senior Design Project Proposal
Flor Luna, Brian Gomez Jimenez, Evan Garcia
Sonoma State University Department of Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Nansong Wu
Industry Advisor: Jeff Church; Senior Environmentalist Specialist of Sonoma Waters
Date: December 8, 2023
Flor Luna
Brian Gomez Jimenez
Evan Garcia
Overview
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The problem we are exploring addresses local researchers who want to obtain salinity, temperature and bathymetric measurements within the Russian River estuary. They are trying to collect depth, salinity and temperature to analyze river ecosystems. This leads them to feel exhausted and frustrated due to current equipment being expensive and having to collect data manually.
Problem Statement
Our Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) helps local Russian River researchers who want to measure salinity, temperature and depth in estuaries by avoiding expensive equipment and manual work. Thus, enabling an autonomous and inexpensive solution to accurately collect data and visualize in wide-coverage areas.
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Value Proposition
Existing Solutions
YSI Pro Solo
Manual Data Collection
Jenner Estuary Photograph
Multibeam Echosounders System
Pros | Cons |
Real-time feedback | Hand-held |
Accessible | Limited Area covered |
Pros | Cons |
Accurate | Stationary |
Real-time | Expensive |
Pros | Cons |
Accurate | Limited Area covered |
Personal Interaction | Requires group of people/ work station |
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Proposed Solution
PATH PLAN ALGORITHM
SENSOR INTEGRATION
We propose an unmanned vehicle that is: autonomous, wide-coverage, hands-free, open-source, & cost-efficient
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Marketing Requirements
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Engineering Requirements
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System Block Diagram
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Hardware Block Diagram
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System Flowchart I
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System Flowchart II
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Alternate Design Matrices
| Weight | Ping 2 Sonar | URM-12 | IRU-3430 |
Community Support | 0.67 | 0.38 | 0.36 | 0.26 |
Accuracy | 0.19 | 0.28 (+- 0.5%) | 0.15 (+- 1%) | 0.57 (+- 0.25%) |
Power Consumption | 0.14 | 0.4 (100mA) | 0.1 (400mA) | 0.5 (20mA) |
score | | 0.36 | 0.29 | 0.35 |
SONAR SENSOR
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Alternate Design Matrices II
| Weight | Mega Board | ESP32 | ESP8266 |
Community Support | 0.60 | 0.5 | 0.25 | 0.25 |
GPIO Ports | 0.20 | 0.55 (70) | 0.30 (39) | 0.15 (17) |
Cost | 0.20 | 0.18 (20.99$) | 0.36 (9.99$) | 0.46 (7.99$) |
score | | 0.45 | 0.28 | 0.27 |
MICROCONTROLLER
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Challenges & Risks
CHALLENGES:
Risks | Qualitative Risk Score | Mitigation Plan | Contingency Plan |
Costly Sonar sensor gets damaged. | Likelihood = 3 (Possible) Consequence = 5 (Major) Total=15 (Extreme) | We will carefully test our sensor and secure it to our boat. | We will buy another one and place safer precautions with new one. |
River debris obstructs function of boat thrusters. | Likelihood = 3 (Possible) Consequence = 4 (Major) Total=12 (High) | Test in debri free areas of estuary. | Manually retrieve boat. |
The river current overpowering the cruising speed of the boat. | Likelihood = 2 (Unlikely) Consequence = 4 (Major) Total= 8 (High) | Check weather and current conditions prior to boat deployment. | Emergency manual override. |
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Test Plans
Objective | Pass/Fail Criteria |
Measure the inaccuracy of sonar sensor. (ER1) (FT-1) | Sonar sensor will have no more than a 5% error. PASS |
Calibrate salinity sensor to ensure accuracy of -/+ 5 ppt in data collection. (ER2) (FT-2) | Pass if accuracy of data collection is within -/+ 5 ppt of known values. PASS |
Establish communication between flight controller and microcontroller.(MR4) (ST-1) | This test is a pass when data on flight controller user interface(QGroundControl) matches on MCU serial monitor. PASS |
MCU should log sensor data and gps coordinates to SD card at least every 30 seconds (ER4) | The test will pass if it successfully logs: Date, time, longitude, and latitude,salinity, temperature and depth. IN PROGRESS |
The path deviation from any programmed waypoint must be less than 20 meters. (MR3) | The test will pass if the USV comes within 20 meters of the programmed waypoints. INCOMPLETE |
The device shall meet IPX5 standard. (MR6) | The test will pass if no water gets inside enclosure. PASS |
The device should measure accuracy of at least +/- 3 Degrees (Celsius) of the temperature reading. (MR5) | The test will pass if the accuracy of the data collection is within -/+ 3 Degrees (C) of the known temp. values. PASS |
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(FT-1) SONAR Sensor
Objective:
Measure the %error of sonar sensor in
pool at different depths.
Procedure:
Measure the known depth with tape ruler.
Connect sonar sensor to MCU Rx/Tx.
Upload code and open serial monitor.
Submerge sonar sensor into pool.
Read serial monitor only at 100% confidence.
Setup: Circuit Schematic
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(FT-1) SONAR Sensor Results
Pass/Fail Criteria: Sonar sensor will have no more of a 5% error.
Conclusion:
Highest %error value is 4.1%. Test has passed.(4.1<5)
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(FT-2) Salinity Sensor
Objective:
Achieve a Salinity sensor accuracy within -/+ 5 ppt using Vernier Salinity Sensor in a controlled environment.
Procedure:
Set-up Circuit Schematic:
Calibration Equation: 14.2532 * VOLTAGE - 1.65312
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(FT-2) Salinity Sensor Results
Pass/Fail Criteria:
The readings shall be within +/- 5 ppt of known salinity solution.
Conclusion: Our Vernier Salinity Sensor had the most discrepancies when measuring a known solution of 35 ppt. The error was -/+ 3.567 ppt and ultimately still less than -/+ 5 ppt.
Figure 1: Graph of Measured Salinity Mean vs Calculated Salinity Value
Figure 2: Graph of Salinity Reading of 35 ppt
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(ST-1) Mavlink Communication
Setup:
Objective:
Communication between flight controller
and microcontroller to receive: current date,time,latitude and longitude coordinates.
Procedure:
Set up hardware shown on right side. →
Download QGroundControl station.
Set up UART serial communication baud rate 57600.
Request and receive date, time, latitude and longitude.
Pass/Fail Criteria: Test passes when received data is on serial monitor.
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(ST-1) Mavlink Results
Serial Monitor:
Qground Station:
Conclusion: Successfully received date, time, latitude and longitude.
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(FT-3) GPS Accuracy
Objective:
Test the Accuracy of our GPS Module and see if it is within 20 meters.
Procedure:
Power up Pixhawk and peripherals and connect it to Mission Planner. View displayed GPS values and compare to values from Google GPS through 10 data points around campus.
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(FT-3) GPS Results
Results: After conducting 10 tests, the largest discrepancy was 8.35 meters.
Test # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
(m) | 5.75 | 5.80 | 8.35 | 4.39 | 0.85 | 6.60 | 2.76 | 2.92 | 4.07 | 6.47 |
Conclusion: Pass, all measurements were less than 20 meters
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(FT-4) Waypoint Accuracy
Objective:
Test the accuracy of each programmed waypoint of our USV in route.
Procedure:
Power up USV and check if all preflight requirements are met(Battery, GPS, Radio, Telemetry). Deploy boat in predetermined location, and start path to waypoint . Measure the distance from the desired location of waypoint to the closest point the USV reached that location.
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(FT-4) Waypoint Results
Pass or Fail: If all measurements
come within 20 meters.
Results:
Waypoint test 1: 9.14 meters
Waypoint test 2: 3.04 meters
Waypoint test 3: 7.97 Meters
Conclusion: Incomplete only 3 measurements were measured.
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(FT-5) IPX5 Rating
FT-6: Check IPX5 Rating
Enclosure being hosed down for 3 minutes with water
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(FT-5) IPX5 Rating Results
Results: After hosing the enclosure with water for 3 minutes, the paper inside it was dry.
Conclusions: The enclosure is able to protect the paper showcasing it is water-resistant and therefore IPX5 rated.
BEFORE: Paper inside enclosure test
AFTER: Paper inside enclosure test
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Estimated Budget
Component | Quantity | Price | Description |
ping2 SONAR | 1 | $ 390.00 | SONAR Sensor |
Arduino Mega | 1 | $ 20.99 | Microcontroller |
Lipo Battery 5000mAh | 2 | $ 30.99 | Additional Battery |
Pixhawk 2.4.8 | 1 | $ 189.99 | Flight Controller |
Vernier Salinity Sensor | 1 | $139.00 | Salinity sensor |
Vernier Temperature Sensor | 1 | $119.00 | Temperature sensor |
| | | TOTAL: $ 889.97 |
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Gantt Chart
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Supporting Courses
EE282 - Engineering Modeling Lab
Utilize MATLAB Programming Language
EE470 - Internet of Things
Power Consumption & Serial Communications
EE345 - Probability & Statistics
Learning how to calculate probabilities & Stats of data points
EE310 - Microprocessors & Systems
C Programming & Embedded Systems
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Questions
Questions / Comments?
Check out our Website for more information!
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Appendix
Edge Step Pool Picture:
Stirring Hotplate
Analytical Balance
LabQuest 2
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Appendix
Temp Sensor Results
Figure 1: Mean of Measured Values vs. Known Values
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Appendix
3D plot of pool: