D1.4: AutoDrop LAB Report

The AUTODROP model is designed to be dropped out of a ship and be able to manoeuvre autonomously to a fixed point with small uncertainty. During navigation, two phases can be identified: dropping phase and slow down one. The first lasts the great part of falling time and the task is to reach the desired location, the second is the landing, when the model has to reduce its speed, keep the right direction to the target and perform several operations, like unfolding the legs,before touching the seabed. A preliminary estimation of body's and rudder's hydrodynamic forces and moments during a general motion have been computed in order to design, develop and test the Guidance Control System. The document describes the experimental activity performed at INSEAN-CNR towing tank, inorder to evaluate hydrodynamic forces and moments acting on the autodrop model during captive model tests to characterize its behaviour during general motion.