Dumbo is an autonomous research vessel constructed by students at Cal Maritime. Dumbo carries temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen sensors and makes oceanographic observations in the waters off of the Cal Maritime Campus. This work has been supported by the CSU Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST).
Dumbo is guided by an Ardupilot autopilot using the APM Rover firmware. Power is provided by two Blue Robotics thrusters. Dumbo’s hulls and deck are wood construction.
Video from 2016 presentations
Information
Background information can be found in these presentations:
Presentation for the Cal Maritime Women in Maritime Leadership Conference 2017-03-10
Presentation for the Cal Maritime Scholar Series 2016-11-17
Observations
(more data in the presentations above)
Hi Mike – I was really excited to come across your autonomous boat projects as I’m working on some similar projects for this summer. I have a catamaran hull using large ABS drain pipes for simplicity with various 3d printed parts, T200 thrusters, and Pixhawk for autopilot. The goal for me is similar to you in taking water sensor measurements for water quality monitoring in the Great Lakes region (Northern WI for me to start) as well as invasive species detection.
Anyway, I was wondering if you could provide more detail as to how you mounted your sensors. I didn’t see any details or pictures. I also noticed in one of your presentations that you were planning on testing a winch-style approach for monitoring at deeper temperatures. I had a very similar idea and may try it out this summer but wondering if you had any learnings from it?
Thanks in advance!
The sensors were just mounted to the crossbeams so they hit the water, nothing fancy. There was a student project to build a winch system but it never left the workbench unfortunately. Thanks for commenting!