Trident 2023
About the Trident
The Trident was the the vehicle that attended Robosub 2023 in San Diego. This was AUVic's first attendance at Robosub since 2018. The vehicle was created with both salvaged parts from the Polars vehicle as well as newly designed parts. A new main enclosure was designed that made it much more simple to open and close the enclosure. New dynamic ballast systems were added to add the ability to move up and down in the water.
Electronics of the Trident are all contained inside the acrylic tube which included a Jetson TX2, an arduino for pwm control, ESCs and a power distribution system. The power distribution system included a step down DC/DC converter to bring the 6S Lipo voltage to a stable 12Volts to power the Jetson computer. The Jetson computer then provides power to the arduino. The electronics were powered by two Lipo batteries wired in parallel to provide power over long testing and competition days.The Jetson computer used an HD Firefly camera for vision to help it guide itself through the main gate with its Blue Robotics T100 thrusters.
The Trident's mechanical design is based on a centralized acrylic tube housing the main electronics supported by two aluminum H-brackets connecting the housing to aluminum plates. Between the aluminum plates a platform made out of UHMW plastics mounts the mechanical devices that interact with the Robosub tasks as well as provide stability. Below the platform two smaller acrylic tubes house the batteries that power the submarine.
Trident also incorporated a variable ballast system that expanded and contracted to manipulate the buoyancy of the submarine. This allowed for accurate depth control without using the full force of the thrusters.
Information coming soon.
