Penn State Lionfish AUV

(2015 AUVSI RoboSub Entry Vehicle)

What's New:

June 30, 2015

Another pool test is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) morning from 8-10 at the Science Park Pool. Improvements to startup time and autonomy will be tested.

June 25, 2015

We have a pool test tomorrow (Friday) morning from 8-10 at the Science Park pool. What needs to get done:

• Eliminate delay in the image aquisition. The vision system needs to be more robust in detecting objects.
• Approximate lateral speed from optical flow
• Standardize decision-making architecture and fallback actions when something doesn't go as planned
• Streamline the startup process to get the vehicle in the water sooner.
• Test the marker dropping task in the water.

June 19, 2015

Watch our promotional video and get to know our team and the Lionfish!

Click here to download the HD version: Lionfish HD

June 18, 2015

We have pool time tomorrow (Friday) morning from 8-10 at the Science Park pool. We’ll be testing the vehicle, and updates made to the software over the last week. Our test objectives will be the following:

• Complete the buoy task: Visit three buoys in an order specific at the test.
• Complete the bin task: Visit two bins in an order specified at the test.
• Complete the gate task: Drive through the gate at a non-zero roll angle.
• String together as many of these into a complete mission as possible.

June 5, 2015

Update: Despite the lack of light, the pool test was an overall success. For the most part, the software and hardware worked brilliantly. And next week we have a time slot from 10:00AM-12:00PM on Thursday at the same pool, so lighting should be great.

The new swimming pool for testing. Science Park Recreation Association

The orange marker was still detected despite the lack of light. The photo was taken at 21:00 EDT.

The team prepares the software for the next missions, which are orange marker following tasks and buoy detection.

It was dark outside! 21:19 EDT Ambient light, no flash.

The swimmers watch as the AUV attempts to detect the red and yellow buoys.

June 4, 2015

The test site is changing again. The new pool testing will be from 8-10pm at the SPRA pool on Science Park Road. This week's test objectives are:

• Adjust camera parameters (physical and hardware).
• Confirm that handover from manual mode to autonomous mode goes smoothly in the absence of a state machine
• Confirm that control limits work, and are adjustable, while the system is in the water
• Get the vehicle hovering over a single line on the pool bottom
• Get the vehicle to follow a course of several lines on the pool bottom
• The vehicle should autonomously hover in front of one or several buoys
• Gather a vision bag for bins on the pool bottom.

May 28, 2015

Progress is being made with the Lionfish despite several software and hardware issues. The new Point Grey Blackfly downward-pointing camera will be tested tonight. Also, red, yellow, and green buoys will be submerged and tethered to the bottom of the pool to test the forward-looking vision algorithm.

UPDATE: Photos and video from tonight's pool test are posted below.

"Preflight." Nate types commands to the ground station and Armstrong pays close attention.

Peter guides the AUV in the water.

Two buoys are tethered to their anchors.

Peter grabs the anchor and will submerge a buoy.

Grant visits and volunteers to tie weights for the buoys.

The AUV is in the water ready for testing.

Nate holds the AUV steady for another IMU calibration.

Peter secures the four point hoist. After testing, the AUV is lifted out of the water.

"Bird" washes the AUV with fresh water after the test.

May 5, 2015

The Penn State Lionfish arrived at its new testing facility - the Centre County YMCA. The usual facility, the Penn State Natatorium diving pool, will be closed for summer maintenance. The pool is reserved Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10pm until midnight. Tonight, the team will demonstrate the first positively controlled test of the new AUV.

April 28, 2015

The Penn State Lionfish AUV went for its first swim during pool testing tonight. See the video below to watch this milestone.

First prelaunch of the PSU Lionfish.

April 21, 2015

Many changes have been made to the software, so simulation will occur on Thursday, April 23. The simulation will test the buoy task, the gate, and the target board task. Next week is the last week of classes, so on Tuesday and Thursday, the technical groups will report "what's left to do" to guide those continuing the work through the summer.

April 14, 2015

Simulation tonight at 8pm.

Update: Code ran on the same type of computer hardware that will be used on the AUV. Some communication lag became evident, so that issue must be resolved. Next week will involve a true hardware in the loop (HiL) simulation. Software for the thrusters, attitude estimation, depth sensing, and cameras should be ready for next week. Simulation tasks will include buoys, starting gate, and torpedo target.

The next pool test is scheduled for April 28 and will check the low level control system tuning. Prior to water testing, the vehicle will undergo dry pressure testing to check for leaks. For the month of May, pool testing will occur on Tuesday and Thursday evenings 10-midnight.

April 7, 2015

Simulation tonight at 8pm - primarily a Vision and Autonomy task. Below is the simulation test setup of our virtual underwater environment.

March 31, 2015

No pool testing tonight, but simulation will commence at 8pm. Last week, the vechicle demonstrated advanced maneuvering ("barrel rolls") in the pool. Vehicle 1 is officially out-of-service. The thrusters have been removed and will be used on Vehicle 2.

The roll maneuver demonstrates capabilities of the latest controller on March 24, 2015.

March 24, 2015

Pool test tonight! The simulator ran successfully last night to prove tonight's test objective.

Sam has volunteered to be the test director, Anthony will pilot the vehicle, Peter will swim and Garrett will manage the vehicle.

March 17, 2015

• Recorded depth data at different vehicle orientations
• Navigated course as laid out
• Dropped a torpedo while hovering over each bin

March 5, 2015

There have been some uncontrollable setbacks recently. The University announced closure due to poor weather (icing) and therefore canceled our scheduled pool test. Next week is spring break and therefore cancels our pool test next week.

February 25, 2015

Two new videos were uploaded from last night's test - attitude control maneuvers and torpedo testing.

Below are some images from last night's test. Last night, Brandon was the vehicle's pilot, Albert was the test director, and Jenny booted the ground station. Willie, Peter, and John were the divers.

The attitude controller worked great and mixed the thrusters to maintain attitude while translating the vehicle at a constant depth - thanks Albert!

Nate explains the hand-held controller buttons to Brandon.

Albert explains the evening's test objectives to the class.

February 24, 2015

Pool test tonight, 8-10pm. The test will involve orange marker following, object recognition in bins, and torpedo testing.
Primary Objectives:

• Demonstrate complex vehicle control
• Interact with the shape-finding task as part of a circumnavigation mission
• Demonstrate hardware interface capabilities for V2
  • Bomb drop signal
  • More verbose status indication

Pool setup

Simulation

February 17, 2015

Pool testing unsucessful tonight because of a leak in main pressure vessel of Vehicle 1. The flange "weld" delaminated with the plastic. Otherwise, this was going to be an interesting night testing the new autonomy algorithms. As far as software goes, everything worked well in the underwater simulator, which now includes vehicle dynamics.

February 10, 2015

Pool test tonight! Tonight's test will evaluate marker following and object recognition. Furthermore, a simulation tool is working and undergoing further development.

UPDATE! Check out our latest video! Click the videos link above.

February 5, 2015

Version 2 of the vehicle is under construction! Meanwhile, vehicle #1 is undergoing orange marker following trials. This means four orange markers (strips 4ft x 6in each) are placed at the bottom of the swimming pool. The vehicle's downward-pointing camera must detect the orange strips and the algorithms must compute the orientation relative to the vehicle. The vehicle must then autonomously steer and move in the direction of the orange markers. The orange markers are arranged such that the vehicle makes a complete loop around the swimming pool. The video below illustrates the layout of the orange markers.

Layout of the orange markers arranged on the bottom of the swimming pool.