Aluminum hull USV for coastal water and seafloor monitoring

This paper discusses the requirements, design, con- struction and development of the ALuminum Autonomous Nav- igator for Intelligent Sampling (ALANIS), an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed by the Autonomous robotic systems and control group of CNR-ISSIA Genova basically for coastal monitoring. The onboard automation system of the rubber boat shaped aluminum vessel manages the steering and throttle of a conventional outboard motor on the base of user desires and measurements supplied by the navigation package. An automatically controlled winch is devoted to deployment and recovery of scientific instrumentation through a suitable hole in the vehicle prow. Experimental results, demonstrating basic guidance and control capabilities, are reported and discussed.