Development of position holding thruster system for ASV

Kato, Tetsu*; Kawamura, Yamato*; Tahara, Junichiro*; Baba, Shoichiro*; Sanada, Yukihisa   

In this paper, we describe the development of a position holding thruster system for ASV (Autonomous Surface Vehicles). At present, JAMSTEC, JAEA, and TUMSAT are jointly working on the investigation of radioactivity in mud deposited in estuaries in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The main objective of our project is unmanned mud collection using an ASV. The side thruster system was developed to enable an ASV to perform mud collection, and it can be maintained the ASV position. Furthermore, the stern thruster was changed and used for as forward and backward thruster to maintain the ASV position automatically. From the results, it was possible to maintain an ASV position when the wind was weak. However, when the wind was strong, the thrust of the stern thruster was weaker than wind, and we confirmed that the an ASV could not be maintained the its position.