Design and development of a submersible UAV

Abstract: Using autonomous underwater vehicles is a popular method of collecting samplesand conducting surveys, but the transportation of this information is not always easy.The underwater vehicle might be unable to transmit the information wirelessly, andsamples may be required to be transported a long distance. A possible solution tothese problems is a hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle, accompanying said underwatervehicle. After a submerged deployment, this vehicle could transport the informationover long distances, or conduct other operations at different locations in air or water.While quadcopters are an increasingly popular type of vehicle, conventional fixed­wingplanes are still superior when it comes to range. This thesis designs, builds and testssuch a vehicle, with the goal of a submerged deployment, performing vertical takeoff,and then transitioning to fixed­wing flight. To minimize the drone’s impact on thevehicle which it accompanies, it is nearly buoyancy neutral by flooding the hull withwater, which enters and exits the vehicle rapidly during dive and egress. To managethe pressure at the underwater vehicle’s operating depth, it utilizes a bladder ratherthan having a heavy rigid compartment. It floats as a tailsitter at the surface, usingtwo motors in a tractor configuration to pull itself out of the water. The vehicle builtproved capable of being submerged and taking off vertically, however there were nofixed­wing flights attempted.