1

2 3
Hydrobionics
Master thesis of Per-Johan Sandlund & Hans Jakob Fsker
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Spring 2014
Students:
Hans Jakob Fsker
Per-Johan Sandlund
Supervisors:
Steinar Killi
Etienne Gernez
4 5
Hans Jakob Fsker, 29
From Oslo, Norway
Mail: hj.fosker@gmail.com
Phone: +47 40648591
Web: www.Hydrobionics.no
Per-Johan Sandlund, 29
From Nordmaling, Sweden
Mail: pjsandlund@gmail.com
Phone: +46 70 2227953
Web: www.Hydrobionics.no
Students
6 7
Intro 6
Broad research 16
Inuential projects 22
Scope denition 36
Concept ideation 40
Focused research 68
Concept development 80
Result 102
User secenario 106
Reection 116
Table of contents
Image: wallpaperswide.com
8 9
Intro
We propose an open
source bionic AUV to allow
hobbyists to conduct deep
ocean exploration and in the
process help further ocean
science as a whole.
Structure of the report
We start with a brief introduction.
After the introduction we will outline the research that has infuenced this
project. Then we will defne the scope of our concept before taking you
through our development phase.
After the concept development phase, we will sum up our result and
offer our own refection on the project.
10 11
Ocean
71%
Land
29%
Not explored
95%
Explored
5%
The oceans
The worlds oceans cover 71% of
our planet, yet scientists estimate
that only 5% of the water has been
explored
1
. Of those 5%, most of
what we know is really only about the
surface, or waters shallow enough
for human divers. The world record
for deep diving is currently at 534
m
2
. Consider for a moment what
that means when the ocean has an
average depth of 4.3 Km.
1 http://mashable.
com/2013/09/25/ocean-vs-space/
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Deep_diving
The Pacifc ocean seen from space.
Image from google earth.
Their importance
The oceans contain a complex
interdependent biosphere about
which we understand very little. We do
know, however that we are completely
reliant on it as the algae supplies our
atmosphere with 70% of its oxygen. Its
the ocean, not the rainforest that keeps
us breathing
1
. Yet, through ignorance
or disinterest our species is destroying it
at an alarming rate through overfshing,
carbon emissions and other stress
factors.
2

1 http://education.
nationalgeographic.com/education/
activity/save-the-plankton-breathe-
freely/?ar_a=1
2 http://edition.cnn.
com/2013/03/22/world/oceans-
overfshing-climate-change/
12 13
Todays equipment
Ocean research equipment today
is extremely expensive, excluding
all but the best funded teams from
doing work on deep sea exploration.
Image: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/
stories2005/s2370.htm
Inltrate
Todays deep ocean equipment is
typically very loud. In an environment
that is normally dead quiet, noisy
equipment scares off wildlife before
researchers get the chance to
observe it.
Edith Widder applied a change of
tactics to be the frst ever to capture
a live giant squid on video; simply by
being quiet.
Edith Widder was able to capture a live
giant squid on camera, by simply being
quiet.
Image: deepseanews.com
14 15
Targeting the hobbyist market
By creating an AUV that is low cost
and open source, this project aims to
provide the opportunity for hobbyists
to perform ocean exploration,
democratizing access to the worlds
ocean foors.
Like amateur astronomers
We envision a future where amateur
ocean explorers will contribute with
data for the scientifc community in
the same way amateur astronomers
do today.
Amateur astronomers help out
with data collection by providing
many smaller telescopes in addition
to the relatively few but large
telescopes available to professional
astronomers.
Organizations such as the American
Association of Variable Star
Observers, help coordinate these
Image: http://www.iau.org/news/
pressreleases/detail/iau0904/
contributions
1
.
Hopefully a similar organization and
culture could help us uncover the
mysteries of our oceans in the near
future.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Amateur_astronomy#Scientifc_
research
16 17
Our project
We propose a bionic, autonomous underwater vehicle or
AUV to infltrate subsea habitats. Our AUVs morphology
is largely based on a tuna, and has been given the name
AUTuna. Based on our research we have come to believe
that if we make a quiet fsh looking robot, aquatic life might
ignore it giving it access to undisturbed sea creatures in
their natural habitat.
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Broad Research
How can we as industrial designers
contribute to ocean research?
We started this explorative project with a very broad approach. We posed
the question, how can we as industrial designers could contribute to
ocean research, thinking that it would probably amount to designing a
sailing robot.
What follows is the research and fndings we made that have infuenced
the direction of this project.
Knowing nothing about the industry we tracked down some individuals
who we thought might give us the necessary insights.
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Any data is
better than
no data!
Roberto De Almeida
Until recently Roberto worked
for marineexplore.org, an ocean
research database with aggregated
data focussing on normalizing and
visualizing all openly available ocean
data. His position there gives him a
unique birds eye view of the feld.
He said there are a lot of black holes
in his maps. A lot of areas remain
completely unknown, and that
rather than obsessing about data
quality, its more important to get
something out there, and refne it
later.
Roberto De Almeida
Ocean Data Engineer at Marinexplore
Roberto De Almeida
Any data is better than no data!
He also mentioned that existing
knowledge is largely unavailable to
the public, residing on local hard
drives in researchers offces.
A lot of research exists only on the
computer of the researcher who
gathered it.
He went on to point out that what
data is made available to the public,
is often in a format that is very
hard to process. Either as a lengthy
scholarly journal paper, or as a
spreadsheet with raw data values
without any visual representation.
These things make it very hard for
anyone without intimate knowledge
of the work to make any sense of it.
Image: marinexplore.com
Marineexplore.org aggregates and
visualizes all openly available ocean
data.
22 23
Whatever you
do will be great
Peter Keen
Operational oceanographer.
Here seen in Antarctica.
Image: keen-marine.com
Peter Keen
Peter is an operational
oceanographer, meaning he
makes a living out of launching
and retrieving, as well as designing
custom ocean research equipment.

His opinion on existing technology,
is that because most of it has been
developed for the offshore oil & gas
industry with completely different
needs in mind, it is generally bad for
ocean research.
Overall, todays equipment lacks a
more holistic approach in the design
phase, which today is done by
engineers solving specifc tasks.
Peter Keen on what should be our main focus:
Image: keen-marine.com
24 25
Inuential projects
Inuential projects
The following is a summary of the projects we found in our
research that have infuenced our diploma.
Image: wallpaperswide.com/
26 27
Graham Hawkes holding a scale model of the
Super Falcon submersible.
Image: Balint Porneczi/Bloomberg
Graham Hawkes Super Falcon
Graham Hawkes is a marine engineer
and undersea explorer who has a
different approach to how we as
humans should explore the ocean
and its inhabitants.
We saw a National Geographic
documentary
1
featuring among
others mr Graham Hawkes who had
lots of comments on how we until just
recently have treated the oceans as
a 2D object. It also baffed him how
1 https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ZElzys4AhNs from 37:25
weve been diving with noisy motors
and blinding lights into the waters
expecting to see things.
To truly appreciate and understand
the oceans and its inhabitants, we
have to be able to move like them.
Gracefully and gently.
His philosophy made us believe
more strongly in the value of animal
movements, and want to incorporate
them into our project.
The Super Falcon in action.
Image: Tony Wu Photography
To truly appreciate and
understand the oceans and
its inhabitants, we have to
be able to move like them:
Gracefully and gently.
Graham Hawkes
28 29
Edith Widder, Image: teamorca.org
Edith Widder & the Giant Squid
In 2012, Dr. Edith Widder was part of
a team of researchers who employed
new tactics to capture video of a
living giant squid. Although mankind
has known about this creature for
hundreds of years, no one has ever
seen one alive until Widders team
caught one on video.
Their approach was to mimic the
bioluminescent light show of a
common jellyfsh that it displays
when attacked. This is a last ditch
resort intended to attract something
bigger than whats attacking it. The
giant squid knows that when the light
show is visible, there is food near by.
In a TED Talk, Widder also comments
at length on how we are scaring off
wildlife with our noisy equipment.
1

1 http://www.ted.com/talks/
edith_widder_how_we_found_the_
giant_squid
First giant squid ever captured on video.
Image: Deepseanews.com
Attracting animals
rather than scaring
them away
Edith Widder on how to
explore the oceans with the
help of quiet platforms:
30 31
Inltrate the Habitat
An example of a land based project
that uses unobtrusive infltration
to capture unique footage, is the
Beetlecam Project. The Beetlecam
is an RC buggy with an armored
shell mimicking a turtle. Lions mostly
ignore turtles, so the Beetlecam is
able to capture images that would
be impossible to capture by other
means.
Image: http://www.digitallife.gr/wp-
content/uploads/2012/03/lions04.jpg
Image: https://plus.google.
com/112302113750019621047/photos/
photo/5819182310430285106
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The Open ROV project
Eric Stackpoles open source
Remotely Operated Vehicle is a low
budget Do It Yourself counterpart to
the commercial Remotely Operated
Vehicles used among other things for
maintenance work in the oil industry.
In a New York Times article the Open
ROV is heralded as the future of
ocean exploration.
-There are only a few teams on
this planet that can undertake
multimillion-dollar projects to
build full ocean depth research
technology
- Victor Zykov, director of research
at the Marine Science & Technology
Foundation.
1
1 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.
com/2012/05/28/a-mini-sub-
made-from-cheap-parts-could-
change-underwater-exploration/?_
php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0)
Open rov ready for shipping
Image: Openrov.com
This lead us to believe that an open
source & low cost platform would
be a far more valuable contribution
than something geared towards well
funded research teams.
An Open rov checking out a shipwreck.
Image: Openrov.com
There are only a few teams on
this planet that can undertake
multimillion-dollar projects to
build full ocean depth research
technology - Victor Zykov, director of research
at the Marine Science & Technology
Foundation.
34 35
There are a lot of problems that
we could have made a project
about. Peter Keen and Roberto De
Almeidas remarks confrm that. But
in our opinion the biggest problem,
and the one we think we are best
suited to address, is the industrys
lacking ability to generate public
interest for their work.
Public interest
Scientifc journal papers are not
an engaging format, and lose the
battle for attention to things like the
Mars Rover, Space X or Mars One.
We think this is a major problem
because lack of public interest
means that policy makers looking
for voters will not be as concerned
with matters concerning the oceans.
However, there are a few projects
that have demonstrated the ability
to catch the public eye. On one
end of the fnancial scale is James
Camerons Deepsea Challenge
1
,
and on the other is the OpenROV
project
2
.
The Deepsea Challenge was a
manned dive to the deepest known
point in the ocean, 10,908 meters
down into the Mariana Trench off
the coast of Guam. This project
generated lots of interest with
several Youtube videos each with up
to half a million views.
The OpenRov Project is an open
source system developed to let
amateurs and hobbyists explore
shallow waters from a small boat or
pier. Their Youtube channel has a
few tens of thousands of views, and
they were featured in the New York
Times tech blog.
Edith Widders discovery of the giant
squid was a Youtube blockbuster,
being reposted countless times
generating millions of views, as
well as being featured on CNN, the
Discovery Channel, TED.com and a
number of other channels.
1 http://deepseachallenge.
com/
2 http://www.openrov.com/
Years of measurements in Alaska
Presented in a data sheet.
Survey made by the Institute of Marine
Science at UAFs School of Fisheries and
Ocean Science
Image: http://www.ims.uaf.edu/gak1/
NASAs mars rover curiosity taking a
selfe on the surface of mars.
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Curiosity_(rover)
The submarine Deepsea Challenger at
the deepest known point on Earth, the
Mariana Trench. Piloted by the Canadian
movie director James Cameron
Image: npr.org
Im gonna explore the
surface on mars.
But first,
Let me take a selfie...
Research ndings
B
o
o
r
in
g
...
C
o
o
l
!
Y
e
s
!
36 37
Video
What they have in common is
engaging video of locations,
environments and/or animals
otherwise completely inaccessible
to most people. We also think that
OpenROV in particular attracts
attention because now all of a
sudden, the average Joe can go
out and explore on his own without
any funding. Given the fact that new
species are discovered on every deep
sea dive
1
we believe that the more
cameras in the water, the better.
1 http://mashable.
com/2013/09/25/ocean-vs-space/
Blend in
From Graham Hawkes and Edith
Widders work we surmise that the
use of quiet infltration will produce
video of natural animal behaviors,
rather than video of a fsh escaping
the ROV that flmed it, or simply no
fsh at all.
Biomimetics
3
When aiming to unobtrusively
infltrate an environment it really
only makes sense to try to move like
something that might belong there.
Further there are many performance
benefts to be gained from tapping
into 3.8 billion years of trial and error.
3 What is Biomimetics?
From Wikipedia:
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the
imitation of the models, systems,
and elements of nature for the
purpose of solving complex human
problems. The terms biomimetics
and biomimicry come from the
Greek words bios, meaning life,
and mimesis, meaning to imitate.
A closely related feld is bionics,
in short the study of biomimetic
robotics.
Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are
noisy and scare off the wildlife they are
trying to observe.
H
ello
!?!
38 39
Scope denition
Scope
denition
We are going to create the frst
stepping stones for an open source,
low cost bionic AUV platform. We will
focus primarily on the biomimetics
of form factor and kinematics, and
leave advanced programming and
electromechanical engineering to
someone more capable.
Although there are many
measurements that can be taken
that would be useful to scientists,
we have decided to focus on video
as our primary data format because
video of strange marine creatures is
what seems to most effectively hook
the publics attention.
Image: wallpaperswide.com
40 41
What else is out there?
Googling far and wide we found
only a few projects that have created
bionic submersibles.
Narotuna
Robotic tuna made in 2009.
A project by the mechanical
engineering school of ETH
Zurich. (Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology).
It was designed to explore the use of
bio inspired locomotion principles.
ht t p: // www. nar o. et hz . c h/ p2 /
narooriginal.html
Naro Taratuga
A robotic sea turtle, also made by
the mechanical engineering school
of ETH Zurich.
ht t p: // www. nar o. et hz . c h/ p2 /
narooriginal.htmll
Image: https://www.facebook.com/
pages/Naro-nautical-robot
Image: https://www.facebook.com/
pages/Naro-nautical-robot
RoboTuna
A robotic tuna made by the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Built to simulate the action
of a fsh, the RoboTuna was
designed by American engineers
at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, (MIT), to see if a robot
sub could mimic the way tuna swim.
The metallic tuna proved to use less
energy and to be more maneuverable
than other robot subs.
Text above from London science
museum
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
images/manualsspl/10328063.aspx
MIT Soft robotic sh
Also made by researchers from MIT
This prototype was made primarily to
showcase the capabilities of
soft robotics. The robot uses
compressed carbon dioxide as
the energy source for its infating
actuator. While extremely agile, its
limited to a maximum of 20 to 30
strokes and would not work at all
below a few meters in the ocean
as the compressed gas would not
expand.
http://newsoffce.mit.edu/2014/soft-
robotic-fish-moves-like-the-real -
thing-0313
Image: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
Our contribution
Although these projects are most
impressive, none of them are of much
help if you are wanting to create
one for yourself. They make it seem
like such projects require a team of
engineers working for a year and
have not made their work available
for public use. None of them can
dive deeper than the bottom of a
swimming pool either.
Our contribution will be to make and
share a robot that is designed to go
deep and intended to be recreated
by individuals on a limited budget.
Image: http://newsoffce.mit.edu/
42 43
Concept Ideation
Concept Ideation
The following section covers our exploration of
biomimetics and targeted research into various
marine propulsion systems and biorobotics.
Image: wallpaperswide.com
44 45
Testing
In order to test ideas and iterate
quickly, we built a 700L test tank. It
formed the basis of our test routine
where we built lots of low defnition
physical sketches of marine animals.
This proved a very effcient method
of validating a concept. What follows
are the test notes from this phase.
Hans Jakob assembling the test tank.
The tank was built out of plywood, tarp
and duct tape.
Building a test tank
A 700 liter
test tank.
46 47
Muscle wire
Our robots needed muscles.
Preferably, our robots would have
silent muscles. Nitinol, also known
by brand names such as Flexinol
or Muscle-wire, is a nickel-titanium
shape memory alloy that returns to
a remembered state when heated.
Flexinol specifcally increases its cross
sectional area, thereby shortening in
length. The contraction is remarkably
strong, and the contraction speed
is limited only by how fast it can be
heated. Conversely, the relaxation
rate is directly linked to how fast
the wire cools after the current is
removed. And best of all, theyre
dead silent.
Actuators
The wire displayed on this image is
Flexinol-brand nitinol, a nickel-titanium
shape memory alloy.
Nitinol
In our case we got some 300mm
x 0.1mm strands that contracted
fully in 0.1 second, drawing 0.7 A at
12V. It relaxed in 2 seconds after the
current was removed. The required
temperature for it to contract is
~100C which for our wires required
a minimum of 200mA in air at room
temperature. The force generated by
one strand was 222g which is quite
impressive for something that weighs
less than 1g. Because it contracts,
it is possible to measure through its
electrical resistance how much it has
shortened. A long wire will have more
resistance than a shorter wire. Using
that information, one could regulate
the current accordingly so that a
large burst is supplied to contract
the wire quickly, and then just pulse
current intermittently to maintain the
desired position.
Flexinol wire shrinks about 5% when
heated to 100C. Here its heated with
an electric current
48 49
Nitinol in cold water
Because the nitinol works on
temperature changes, the wires
showed absolutely no reaction when
submerged in 4C water and supplied
with 12V. But, when we coated the
wire with a thin layer of silicone,
it reacted just as if in air at room
temperature. Too much silicone, and
the relaxation took a lot longer.
Prototyping with servos
Although nitinol is awesome,
we settled on using servos for
our prototypes because of both
programming and hardware
simplicity. With a servo, one can
precisely specify an angle to a
hundredth of a degree, and the
servo will send its output shaft to
that angle. With nitinol on the other
hand, we would have to measure
the resistance of several lengths of
wire to determine whether or not
the resistance difference is linear or
not. If its non-linear we would have
to create lookup tables for every step
of a given contraction resolution.
Servos also come complete with
mounting geometries making for
very easy assembly, where nitinol
would require constructing a custom
skeleton for every actuator.
50 51
Jellysh
Jellysh
We were eager to test a concept
around a jellyfsh, because of its very
simple kinematics. The kinematic
complexity is so much lower than
the others, that the jelly was the only
water test we did using fexinol. The
jellyfsh ran a very simple contract-
relax cycle, of 0.5 seconds of
contraction phase, followed by a 3
second relaxation phase.

The pulling force of the fexinol was
mostly absorbed in the length axis
of the silicone surrounding the wire
without generating much fexion, as
there was no rigid material to resist
the wire. Therefore, although the wire
contracted very strongly the jellyfsh
mantle had very little force. Even
when we used the 0.3 mm wires, the
jellyfsh was quite weak, even though
it pulled a staggering 9 A during
each contraction phase.
Conclusion
The jellyfsh was indeed simple, but
its incredible ineffciency disqualifed
it from further testing. It was both the
most power hungry and the slowest
of our tests.
52 53
Twister 1
Twister 1
An early concept inspired by
penguins winged propulsion. The
twister is a mechanically simplifed
version of a penguin or a sea turtle
where a single servo oscillates large
wings to create thrust.

Conclusion
In the water it fought itself more than
it generated thrust. Also, we had no
way of steering it.
Twister 2
Twister 2
To give the twister a second chance
we attempted to streamline the body
by removing two fns, and giving it a
tapered rear end.
Conclusion
It seemed better but to compensate
for the missing fns the wingspan had
to be so large that it wouldnt ft in
the tank. Requiring such large control
surfaces in relation to its own size
is a weakness. Also, we still had no
obvious way to steer it.
54 55
Squid
Squid
The balloon squid. We had hunch
that a squid would be very effcient.
This was the only electronics free
sketch model consisting of one
balloon flled with water, with a 1 mm
jet nozzle. The squid managed to
swim 4-5 lengths in our tank which
equates to 12-15 meters on one flling
of the balloon. It was very slow, but
also very graceful. We tried adding
two more 1 mm holes to the nozzle.
That increased the speed somewhat,
but cut the range in half.


Conclusion
The squid didnt seem very effcient,
as it had to move extremely slowly to
cover much of any distance. We left
the concept as we couldnt fgure out
a way for the balloon squid to refll
itself without using a pump of some
sort.
56 57
Eel
Eel
We were keen to test a fsh like
creature, to compare it to the other
forms of locomotion.
The eel sketch was a creature
made from cardboard, duct tape,
automotive clay and condoms that
used 9g submicro servos for motion.


Conclusion
Besides from being a visual atrocity,
the robot was poorly balanced and
veered off to the side. Testing various
fn geometries, the results were that
a fn covering the posterior 2/3 of
the robots body proved the most
effcient. This is in line with research
we did later which showed that what
this robot did was replicate how eels
swim. Another conclusion is that the
9g submicro servos arent strong
enough to deform the skin needed
to waterproof them.
Sketching with servos. Not that impressive.
58 59
Whale
Whale
Eager to test with stronger servos, the
whale bot was the frst sketch model
we did using high power servos. We
bolted the servos together, forming
the tail of the robot, and ziptied that
to the bottom of a 1.5 L soda bottle
forming the body. To save energy, we
opted for waterproofng the servos
themselves, rather than encasing
them in a waterproof shell.
Resisting reaction forces
Without pectoral fns, the whale just
moved its midsection up and down
while the fn remained stationary.
We added fat boards to serve as
pectoral fns. At frst we placed
them where we thought pectoral fns
should be, near the front of the robot,
but this just changed the pivot point
of the wobble. We moved the fns to
the apex of the curve created when
the robot was at max defection to
any one side. This drastically reduced
the wobble, and more of the force
directed backwards
=Force
Pectoral fns
60 61
Speed and deection
We experimented with different
settings for individual servo
defections, starting with 45 degrees.
That proved too much as the whale
bopped up and down more than it
swam forward even though it had fns
made to counteract that.
Lowering the angular defection to
30 degrees removed most of the
wobble, and the robot swam nicely
forwards.
Whale Fin One
1mm PET sheet. Too stiff and did not
fex to provide an appropriate pitch
angle
Whale Fin Two
PET sheet, Zipties and tape fn. This
design proved to be more effcient
as the tape faps and PET sheet spine
fexed enough to pitch the fn in the
water
Conclusion
The results were very promising, but
the whale would require additional
fns to steer laterally in the water.

62 63
Fish
Fish
Spurred on by our success with the
whale, we simply fipped the whale
bot to one side, changed the tail fn
and made it into a fsh.
PET Foil test
By simply folding a 0.5mm PET
sheet into a foil and dragging it
through the water we could feel a
dramatic difference in lift generated
in comparison to a fat board. We
added the foil fn to the bottle fsh.
Foil shaped tail fn
Buoyancy
To take the complexity of neutral
buoyancy out of the equation we
added a large bottle as a fotation
device.
Once in the water, the bottle fsh far
outperformed everything we had
tried so far.
64 65
Body shape
Although the bottle fsh had dorsal
fns to counteract the lateral force of
the tail, the body moved signifcantly
back and forth. We attribute this
to the cross section of the body
being cylindrical, and as such not
A fatter body resists more lateral force.
generating much lateral resistance.
Studying pictures of fsh, we observed
that their bodies are most often quite
fat, providing a lot of surface area to
resist the lateral force of the tail fn.
Steering
We added steering capabilities by
shifting the center point of the servo
oscillations left or right.
The fsh steers by shifting its tails center
point.
In theory, a whale robot could
be made just as effective, but we
prefer the lateral agility gained from
steering by shifting the servo centers,
rather than using additional fns.
66 67
A note on water and
pressure proong
Dealing with DIY underwater
electronics was not surprisingly, very
diffcult. We realized early on that
if our fnal prototype was to last for
more than one test dive, there could
be no half measures. Everything
needs to be properly sealed with
greased o-rings, and any structure
with an air cavity needs to be strong
enough to resist the water pressure
without deforming enough to break
the seals.
Oil flling of servos... Emptying servos of oil...
Therefore, all air pockets should
ideally be oil-flled. For our purposes,
oil can be considered incompressible
and will not decrease appreciably in
volume at any pressure found in any
part of the ocean. We oil flled the
interior of our servos intending for
them to be pressure proofed, but
the oil added so much friction in the
internal motor, that one servo fried
itself. We had to drain all of them and
forget about our intended deep dive
for this prototype.
Another less obvious factor is the
impact of thermal expansion rates of
different materials. If the components
forming a seal are assembled at
room temperature with signifcantly
different thermal expansion
coeffcients, one will shrink more
than the other when submerged in
cold water. That could lead to the
seal being broken.
68 69
A note on buoyancy
Controlling buoyancy is a very energy
effcient way to dive or ascend, at
least near the surface. To do this,
the submersible must increase or
decrease its total water displacement
without changing its weight. This
is trivial near the surface, but great
depths it becomes extremely
challenging as the pressure can be
as high as 1100 Bars. That means
that to increase its displacement,
the submersible has to overcome
a force of 1100 kilograms for every
square centimeter of surface area
of the volume it needs to displace.
Sharks provide a simple solution to
this. -Flight.
Sharks have no swim bladders, and
use hydrodynamic lift over their
pelvic fns to maintain desired level
in the water. This is the exact same
mechanism that keeps man made
aircraft fying.
Ballast tanks
The concept is simple. Pump water
into the tank until its no longer
buoyant.
The ballast tank system worked
beautifully in our test tank, but can
not be used at any great depths with
out great diffculty. This is because
the pressure outside the ballast
tank would require the pump to be
incredibly powerful, and the tank
would have to be made extremely
strong so as to not implode.
Cooled oil
When in water of the same
temperature, oil is buoyant. When
cooled signifcantly oil in water will
sink as it contracts and its volume
decreases while its weight remains
unchanged.
Our second concept on active
buoyancy was to control the
temperature of an oil volume to
change its buoyancy.
Regular cooking oil is almost pressure
neutral, and the concept worked, but
required way too much energy to
cool down the oil volume.
We tried to lower the temperature
with a battery and a thermoelectric
cooler. This failed even though we
had an excessively powerful battery.
Various tests of active buoyancy control.
Non of them matched our demands
of energy effciency or being pressure
neutral.
70
Focused Research
The following section sums up the research
that has been in some way useful for the
end result. How it has been implemented in
the shaping of the AUTuna is shown in the
concept development section.
Focused Research
72 73
Positioning
Underwater GPS is not possible. That
means, that any positioning has to
be done by acoustic pinging, or by
inertial measurement. Because one
of our goals is to be as unobtrusive
as possible, we have ruled out
acoustics. An Inertial Measurement
Unit or IMU can calculate position
remarkably accurately. It works by
calculating speed through measuring
accelerations. Any acceleration will
mean that the speed has changed.
As long as one keeps track of speed
and heading over time, one can work
out positioning. This example from
Youtube
1
shows an experiment where
someone tracks the position of a foot
with impressive accuracy.
1 https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=6ijArKE8vKU
Tracked data from a foot
walking a spiral staircase
Images: https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=6i-
jArKE8vKU
Communication
Wireless underwater communication
is acoustic only, which means
introducing noise and running
counter to our intent. Also, acoustic
communication only allows for very
low bandwidth stuff like a string of
numbers or a text. Video streaming
is quite impossible. Therefore all the
ROVs are tethered to provide a real
time video feed to the surface.
The tether of an ROV spooled
up on deck. Image: http://
teacheratsea.wordpress.com/
tag/cable/
74 75
London
In order to gain insight, we went
to London for the Oceanology
International Exhibition. An annual
subsea industry trade show, where
all the manufacturers of ROVs, AUVs
and other underwater products come
to show off their goods. The key take
away from the exhibition, was that
cables are a serious problem. Not
only do they seriously hamper the
maneuverability of the ROV, but they
have a practical maximum length of
4km, which if you think about it is
an absurd amount of cable to deal
with. The spools required are often
much larger than the ROV itself. But
the real problem is that the cables
create a lot of drag in the water, and
provide currents with a lot of surface
to pull off of. That means that the
longer the cable, the stronger the
ROVs thrusters needs to be to pull
them. The stronger the thrusters, the
more power they need. The more
power the cables need to conduct,
the larger their cross section has to
be. The larger the cables, the more
drag they create. This spirals out
of control at about 4 km. Because
of this we decided that our robot
needed to be autonomous. An AUV
with no cable can be made much
smaller and more manageable than
a deep diving ROV, and as long as
it can withstand the pressure, it can
dive all the way down to the bottom
of the Mariana Trench.
You can always add lead
Another insight, was that one
should always strive to make the
submersible as buoyant as possible.
A bit counterintuitive, but the idea
is that different missions may call for
different payloads. More battery, a
large sonar, a heavy camera system,
etc. To make it neutral and balanced
in the water once the instrumentation
has been ftted, You can always add
lead.
76 77
Fish anatomy
Fish Swimming forms
Biologists have classifed the
swimming kinematics of fsh who
swim by oscillating their tails into
fve categories. From the Wikipedia
article on fsh locomotion
1
:
Anguilliform:
Seen in eels and lampreys, this
locomotion mode is marked by
whole body deformations in large
amplitude waves. Both forward and
backward swimming is possible by
this type of swimming.
Subcarangiform:
Similar to anguilliform swimming, but
with limited amplitude anteriorly that
increases as the wave propagates
posteriorly, this locomotion mode is
often seen in trout.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Fish_locomotion
Carangiform:
Body undulations are restricted to
the posterior third of body length
with thrust produced by a stiff caudal
fn
Thunniform:
The most effcient aquatic locomotion
mode with thrust being generated
by lift during the lateral movements
occurring in the caudal fn only.
This locomotion mode has evolved
under independent circumstances in
teleost (ray-fnned) fsh, sharks, and
marine mammals.
Body deection
Speed
Anguilliform
Carangiform
Thunniform
Subcarangiform
0 km/h 130 km/h
78 79
Fish ns
We did extensive research on fn
shape in relation to the animals top
speed through the water. From that
research it follows that what all the
fastest creatures have in common
is that their fn, or rather hydrofoil
is shaped with a high aspect ratio,
low relative tip area, and a lunate
planform. The best example of an
animal that follows these rules this
is the black marlin, which has been
measured by a BBC camera team to
speeds of up to 128 kph.
1

1 https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=mD7t057XIi8
80 81
Humpback whale ippers
Further we came across some
research on the bumpy fippers on
humpback whales that concluded
that the so called tubercles, i.e.
the bumps on the leading edge of
the humpback whale fipper makes
them perform better
1
. They list
up some remarkable numbers for
performance improvement over a
smooth edged hydrofoil of the same
size and planform:
1 http://scitation.aip.
org/content/aip/journal/
pof2/16/5/10.1063/1.1688341
Image: http://www.canadianman-
ufacturing.com/wp-content/up-
loads/2010/11/10-oct-whalepower-tu-
becle-hydrofoil-360.jpg Image: http://whalesightings.blogspot.
no/2011_09_01_archive.html
-8% more lift
-32% less drag
-40% higher angle of attack before
stall.
An article from design-engineering.
com
2
on the study cites a wind-
turbine that improved its annual
energy output by 20% just from
switching to tubercled blades.
2 http://www.design-
engineering.com/features/whale-of-
an-idea
Focused research Summary.
Aquatic locomotion
It was pretty obvious once we made a
fsh robot, that the oscillating foil of a
fsh is far superior to any of the other
forms of marine animal propulsion.
We later found some research on
the matter that confrms this. The
energy effciency of marine animal
propulsion is measured in what is
referred to as Froude Effciency. It is
a dimensionless number, or rather a
ratio. It is the ratio between power
input over power output.
A Froude Effciency of 1 would mean
that 100% of the energy put into
the locomotion system would be
converted into forward motion with
zero loss. Also known as impossible.
A Froude Effciency of 0 would mean
that 0% is converted into forward
motion and most likely that the
actuator has malfunctioned.
According to wikipedias article on
aquatic locomotion
1
and the journal
article Oscillating foils of high
propulsive effciency
2
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Aquatic_locomotion,
2 http://dspace.mit.edu/
bitstream/handle/1721.1/25614/
Triantafyllou-1998-Oscillating.pdf
Yellow fn tuna
Image: http://www.ausasiagroup.com/
PX_AATUNA/WTBF_Fish_Species.html
The various locomotion systems rank
as follows:
Jellysh:
0.09
Very bad.
Squid:
0.29
About three times better than a
jellyfsh, but still rather ineffcient.
Thunniform Swimmer:
0.87.
Very effcient and outperforms most
man made propulsion systems which
typically land at 0.7. We will of course
base the kinematics of our fnal
prototype on this swimming style.
82 83
Concept development
Concept development
We wanted to create an initial frst step towards an open source
bionic AUV. To prototype it we focused mainly on the development
of biomimetic kinematics and biomimetic physical form. We chose to
work with servos for actuators. These make it easier to prototype the
swimming motions than muscle wire would, but are noisy and would
not be used in a fnal product. Because this particular prototype is not
intended to dive to any great depths the camera and other electronics
on board exist solely to create an engaging proof of concept that is
able to swim autonomously in a controlled environment. For a fully
seaworthy AUV we would need more work on programming so the
AUTuna could navigate and perform a real dive.
84 85
Starting point
The shape of the fsh is almost
completely dictated by the research
from the previous phase. Its body
has an elliptical cross section to
resist the lateral forces of the tail
fn and an overall shape inspired by
the tuna rather than one of the very
fastest swimmers such as the black
marlin. This is because the marlin and
its family of so called billfsh have a
much longer shape, which would
make for a very cumbersome robot.
Tubercled hydrofoils(Bright colored)
Tuna body shape
Flat Window
Caudal keel
Pectoral fns for vertical steering
Visability
The black color was chosen mostly
because we like it, although it could
have been any color as below a few
hundred meters there is no light in
which to see anyway. We made some
of the fns yellow to improve visibility
during launch and retrieval as a black
object below the surface is nearly
impossible to see. The yellow fns are
also a nice reference to the yellowfn
tuna.
86 87
Tubercled hydrofoils
The fns are tubercled hydrofoils to
maximize the angle of attack and
thereby thrust.
Caudal Keel
The posterior tail joint has been
given a caudal keel like that of a real
tuna which helps stabilize fow and
streamline the tail for stable lateral
movement of the tail through the
water.
Caudal keel
Caudal keel
Tail fn movement
Water fow
Tuna seen swimming from above.
88 89
Head
The shape of the head is defned by
the components it needs to carry.
It is a hydrodynamic casing for a
pressure resistant cylindrical housing
for a camera, 4 rangefnders for
obstacle avoidance each needing a
fat transparent window and an LED
array with light sensors to control
lighting for the camera.
LED package
Light sensors
Range fnders
Camera
90 91
Positioning of ns
The positioning of the fns is
driven by our experience from the
earlier testing. The vertical fns
are positioned centrally where the
majority of the lateral defection
from the tail motion would occur
without them. The Autuna is made
to be slightly buoyant and use
hydrodynamic downforce to keep it
submerged. That way, if it runs out
of battery or something else fails, it
will simply foat to the surface. The
Autuna has two sets of horizontal
fns. One articulated set near the
front that vary their pitch to steer it
up or down, and one stationary set
to the rear for the front set to work
against.
Fin size
The size of the fns is a compromise.
Ideally we want larger caudal and
pectoral fns, and smaller dorsal
and pelvic fns. But, we opted for
the beneft of having them all be
instances of the same fn in order
to rationalize production by only
requiring a single mold.
Dorsal and Abdominal fn
resists lateral force.
Pectoral and pelvic
fns resist vertical
force of the AUTunas
slight buoyancy.
Electronics
The electronics are housed in a
fexible oil bladder made from a
common household item, a silicone
sugar bread form from IKEA. The
bladder is mounted against a fat
membrane with standard cable
glands for each cable required for
the servos and the sensor module
in the head. This setup is inherently
pressure proof, as the fexible silicone
will deform to allow any air bubbles
inside to compress without straining
the watertight seal. Another beneft,
is that the need to waterproof the
depth sensor module is removed as
it can be contained within the oil that
will always hold the same pressure as
the outside water.
92 93
Skin
The AUTuna is designed to be
draped in a drag-reducing outer skin.
This doesnt need to be waterproof,
it needs only to follow the form of
the body underneath as closely as
possible. At frst we thought sewing
a tailored suit was the best option.
We made a prototype from a vinyl
backed nylon textile, but it didnt fex
well enough, and was a very involved
effort. So much so, that we thought it
The tailored fsh skin folded
up around the tail in spite of
compensative cuts
might discourage any future would-
be AUTuna builders. We therefore
opted for a simple nylon stocking.
The stocking proved to outperform
the tailored suit in terms of fgure
hugging and ability to fex with the
movement of the robot. However,
a suit with a zipper would make
changing the battery and performing
other service easier to do.
A simple nylon stocking
outperformed the sewn skin
94 95
Modelling the thunniform
swimming style
Because thunniform swimmers were
shown to greatly outperform the rest,
we decided to build a thunniform
robot. Recreating the swimming style
of a tuna was done by watching video
of a tuna swimming, and writing a
piece of software in Processing that
allowed us to graphically experiment
with changing body proportions,
angular defection of the joints and
their phase offsets. We found that
with four articulated joints, three for
Analyzing the swim pattern of
a tuna we found on Youtube
(https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=mSYLXQcFWZM)
the tail motion and one to control
the pitch of the tail fn, we were
able to fairly accurately recreate
the thunniform swimming style.
The length of the servo joints are
based on fndings done with visual
comparison of a video of a tuna, to
the graphical representation in the
swimming style software.
Interface for sketching swimming
patterns made in Processing.
Porting the swim pattern
to the servos.
96 97
Improving the kinematics
At frst we ran the code with linear
back-and-forth motion, which looked
very robotic. When we drove the
defections of each joint from a sine
wave, we discovered that what makes
movement look biological is smooth
accelerations. The sinusoidal swim
cycle brought the fsh to life, with
its movement looking graceful and
effortless. Once the swimming style
matched the tuna from the video, it
was just a matter of deciding on the
Linear servo sweep cycle
Sine wave servo sweep cycle
required resolution for the prototypes
swim cycle and extracting the angular
values from the swim style software.
To calibrate things, we were able to
get the software to send the values to
the microcontroller in real time.
The code for our fsh swimming style
tool can be found on our Github
repository for those who want to give
it a try. Hydrobionics -> Autuna
Programming the sh
Once the angular defections and
phase offset for each servo was
determined, it was a simple matter to
program what we refer to as the swim
cycle of the Autuna. Each servo runs
through a cycle of 360 steps, with
values from a sine wave with its lower
extreme at 0, and higher extreme
at 360. The wave exists as a lookup
table of values generated with an
online digital sinewave generator.
This saves a lot of microcontroller
processing power, when it can simply
fnd the next servo value in a table
rather than computing it for every
step. The one we used can be found
at http://www.meraman.com/htmls/
en/sinTableOld.html. The values from
the sine wave are mapped to the
angular defections determined for
each servo by the Processing tool.
98 99
Code structure
The main loop of the Autuna program
runs a check of all the sensors,
before it determines where to angle
the servos. First it checks the depth
module and angles the pectoral fns
to maintain the target depth. Second,
it checks for obstacles with the optical
range fnders. If one or more of them
report a reading within the threshold
of 300 mm, the program offsets the
servo positions to steer the robot
away from whatever triggered the
sensor. Third, it checks the ambient
light levels to determine whether
they are above or below the target
level needed for the camera. If below
it fades the LED array up. If above,
it fades the LED array down. Finally,
the program iterates the position in
the swim cycle sine wave table, and
adds any sensor driven offsets to the
new servo positions. After writing
the new positions to the servos, it
repeats the process. The arduino
code for the AUTuna can be found
on Github along with the swimming
form software.
Main loop
Check sensors
Check depth, adjust heading
Check obstacle sensors, adjust heading
Check Light, adjust light
Check sensors
Check depth, adjust heading
Check obstacle sensors, adjust heading
Check Light, adjust light
100 101
First tank swimming test
We were honestly quite surprised
when the Autuna just worked on the
frst try in the water. It took its very frst
swim strokes with ease, although the
tank walls were triggering its lateral
rangefnders constantly causing it to
twitch back and forth a little to avoid
making contact.
Buoyancy and balance
When frst submerging the AUTuna,
it was not surprisingly very buoyant
as we had taken you can always add
lead to heart. We added 530 grams
of ballast, which we positioned
carefully in order to balance the
robot. This also means that the
AUTuna has a payload capacity of
530 grams.
102 103
Open water swimming test
Confdent that our fsh worked,
we went to a local beach for the
frst open water test. With enough
space to maneuver, the AUTuna
astonished us with how well it moved
in the water. It looked completely
effortless, something that cant be
rendered with a still picture and really
must be seen in a video. Once back
on land, we extracted the footage
from the onboard camera which we
found to be absolutely hypnotic.
Cold.
Although it was just video from a
mostly featureless sandy bottom,
there was something very intriguing
about how the camera moved. It
oscillated slightly from side to as it
glided through the water, looking like
something out of a jaws movie.
As the AUTuna currently has no
positioning systems, Hans Jakob had
to get into the water with it to keep it
from swimming away.
Success!
Well.. The camera was placed slightly
tilted. But, none the less, the footage
was captivating
104 105
Result
The result
The AUTuna swims like a cross between a shark and a tuna.
With relaxed strokes to the tail beat frequency of a shark in the
swimming style of a tuna, it glides gracefully through the water
with a cruise speed of about 1 meter/second.
106 107
AUTUNA
Open source Bionic AUV
Something
to build on
The AUTuna is an excellent starting
point for the DIY community to develop
further.
We have done the hard work of defning
fsh kinematics and writing software
to recreate them. And perhaps more
importantly, shaped a machine with a
form factor so unusual that it catches
the attention of individuals otherwise
not interested in subsea technology.
The following pages outline how we
envision a likely user scenario.
108 109
Order a kit
The AUTuna would be sold in much
the same way as the OpenROV or
any RC model, as a kit where the
user does most of the assembly.
Only the parts requiring precise or
advanced machinery would come
premade. Such as printed circuit
boards, machined parts and other
electronics. It is not a simple product,
and as such requires the user to get
well acquainted with its components
and inner workings.
Assemble
Following detailed video instructions
online, the assembly of the AUTuna
would be an enjoyable learning
experience, not just a means to an
end.
110 111
A highly portable AUV
Once the body is assembled, the fns
are feld detachable, allowing the
AUTuna to ft nicely in a bag for ease
of transportation to launch sites.
AUTUNA
Open source Bionic AUV
Program its route
At the launch site the user would need
only to attach the fns, and plan a
mission on a smartphone app before
launching the AUTuna into the water.
The AUTuna will then autonomously
carry out the mission defned by the
user, before returning home.
112 113
Motion triggered video
recording
We propose that the AUTuna employ
simple computer vision to determine
whether or not the image has
changed since the previous frame,
and so detecting if there has been
any movement, or if there is anything
in frame at all. That way one will
not have to sift through recordings
with hours of black nothing, and the
AUTuna can undertake longer dives
with less required video storage
space. An example of this technology
is the open source Motion for linux,
a software motion detector intended
for security cameras
1
.
1 http://www.lavrsen.dk/
foswiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome
114 115
Share
Once the AUTuna has been retrieved
the user extracts the footage and
shares it online if anything of note
was captured.
116 117
AUTUNA
Open source Bionic AUV
Available at:
Github.com/
Hydrobionics/Autuna
Download the code and 3D
models.
118 119
Reection
Looking back on the project
The project started with a very
wide scope. Our starting point was
that we wanted to explore what
kind of contribution we as industrial
designers could make to ocean
science, and we believed we would
settle on a more user friendly sailing
drone of some sort. In hindsight
we fnd it a little baffing how it has
morphed from there into a bionic
autonomous underwater vehicle, or
AUV for short. This is the frst time
either of us have ever taken on a
project with a brief this vague, and
running a project with such a wide
scope has been very diffcult. Not
knowing what the result would be nor
who the intended user was, made
the research phase very unfocused
as there was no clear way to assess
whether something was relevant for
the project or just very interesting.
This caused the research phase to
take very long, leaving little time for
concept development.
With that said, we cant imagine
having thought of the concept we
landed on, were it not for the broad
research we did. We didnt know until
late March that we were going to do
a bionic AUV, and we fnd it baffing
that we between then and May
have designed and built a working
underwater biomimetic robot. Our
impression over the years has been
that students at AHO usually settle
for a few renderings and a physical
model no more than a visual mockup.
Although the project has been
challenging, it has also been a
valuable experience. Because the
project targets the Do-It-Yourself
community, the work would suffer
a lack of credibility if we had not
actually done it ourselves. We
have gained extensive experience
in the challenges facing an
underwater electronics build such
as waterproofng cable connections,
or balancing buoyancy and center of
gravity. We wouldnt have had any
of these insights if we didnt actually
make the robot.
Having done such a project is also
valuable in and of itself, as we doubt
well ever have the opportunity to
work so exploratively again.
Thoughts on our result
As outlined in our introduction, very
little is known about the worlds
oceans. Its absurd to note how
much we know about Mars and other
planets, and how little we know
about the oceans. The oceans are
paramount to our existence, yet our
species seems more fascinated by
other planets than our earthly waters.
However, when a video of an unusual
animal from the ocean appears on
youtube, it can go viral as seen earlier
in our report with Edith Widder and
her video capture of the giant squid.
Netfix has no reason to care about
anything else than what attracts
viewers. The fact that they have
several documentaries about oceans
makes us believe that there is an
interest there, but that it needs more
material to fourish into something
more than casual entertainment. We
think that the more people who see
video of new or beautiful or bizarre
or otherwise exciting species, the
more people will be able to relate to
our oceans. As outlined early on in
this report, amateur astronomers are
providing a valuable service to the
worlds professional astronomers.
Although the amateurs have lower
quality equipment, they are providing
higher bandwidth with more eyes on
the skies. Amateur astronomers are
typically the frst to discover new
celestial bodies, and the professional
community use their fndings as a
reference for where to point their
telescopes. Democratizing access to
equipment that can lower cameras
deep into the water, would likely
provide a lot of cameras in the water
and could stand to provide the same
for the deep ocean. Open ROV is
providing this for shallow water and
is creating quite a stir as seen in the
New York Times (reference) article
about them. If we could help provide
a platform that can provide the same
for deep waters, the world would
learn about the depths a lot faster.
Therefore we frmly believe that
the more cameras in the water, the
better.
Shaping the AUV as a fsh, that moves
like a real fsh, will according to all our
research provide numerous benefts
both in terms of performance, and
getting attention. It has certainly
attracted the attention of our peers
across classes at AHO.
Although the AUTuna performed
beautifully on its frst open water trial,
it would have been very interesting
to have more time with it to explore
other fn placements, different
planforms and cross sections of
the hydrofoils and variations of the
kinematics. We did observe a slight
lateral oscillation of the head which
effectively means its dumping
energy to the sides that should have
been directed backwards. Another
set of dorsal and abdominal fns
would probably fx this.
Open source technology has
democratized other industries by
bringing the costs down to a level that
a hobbyist can afford. Prime examples
are the Reprap Project & DIY Drones.
The reprap project is an initiative to
make a machine that is capable of
completely replicating itself. (http://
reprap.org/wiki/RepRap) They are
far from achieving it still, but along
the way they have started a billion
dollar industry, the consumer 3D
printer market. Makerbot, Ultimaker
and all the rest owe their existence
to the Reprap project. More closely
related to our project, the DIY
Drones forum, is a forum where
hobbyists share experiences from
building and operating homemade
aerial drones. (http://diydrones.
com/) The US militarys Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency,
DARPA was impressed enough by
the collective knowledge of the DIY
Drones community to launch their
own derivative, the UAV Forge in
hopes to crowdsource innovation
of future military drone technology.
( ht t p: //di ydr ones.com/pr of i l es/
blogs/darpa-creating-its-own-diy).
Looking at what has happened
through open source technology in
other industries such as 3D printing
through the Reprap Project or
airborne drones through DIY Drones,
we believe that if the same were
to happen for the ocean science
community, the world might be a
better place for it. We hope that
our project could contribute to the
much needed push that gets the ball
rolling.
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Hydrobionics
Master thesis of Per-Johan Sandlund & Hans Jakob Fsker
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Spring 2014
Students:
Hans Jakob Fsker
Per-Johan Sandlund
Supervisors:
Steinar Killi
Etienne Gernez
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