Development of an unmanned surface vehicle for lake environmental monitoring

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24580378
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Agricultural information engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: KAIZU Yutaka 東京大学, 農学生命科学研究科, 准教授 (70313070)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YAMADA Hiroyuki 北海道大学, 大学院農学研究院, 講師 (10374620)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ロボットボート / 自律航行 / 水質マッピング / 省力化 / GPS / リチウムイオンバッテリー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An autonomous, electric-powered, unmanned airboat was developed for the efficient measurement of depth and water quality of inland water bodies. Compared with a gasoline engine, an electrical brushless motor was lighter, cleaner, quieter, less vibrating, and more controllable. The maximum distance and maximum operation period were estimated by measuring the vessel speed and power consumption with respect to the rotational speeds of the propellers. The accuracies of staying controlled on fixed points and in line following control were evaluated as the basic performance test of the boat. The results showed that the accuracies were sufficient enough for creating a map of the entire lake. Field trials were done in Churui Bay, Lake Akan, and Lake Onneto in Hokkaido, Japan. Depth maps and various water quality maps were successfully drawn for these lakes using the prototype.

Free Research Field

農業環境工学