The vehicles Aurora and Leviathan are the culmination of CUAUV's over 20 years of experience in designing, manufacturing, and competing with AUVs.

Our team has worked diligently during the 2021-2022 academic year to complete both vehicles and are proud to showcase them in their final form. For the internals of Aurora, we opted for a more spacious design this year. By spreading out the custom PCBs connected to the racks, we were able to gain valuable room to allow for easier integration and debugging.

This has ultimately allowed us to experiment with new heating simulations and a proper channel for air flow as well as easier board access. While Aurora and Leviathan are both designed to be able to complete a majority of the course on their own, we intend to have them both complete their own designated tasks so that they work as one cohesive unit.

Leviathan, completely manufactured from scratch, features a design that deviates from the traditionally compact vehicles CUAUV produced in past years.

Leviathan has a new hydrophones enclosure with four elements as well as a transmit enclosure. Newly designed battery pod enclosures are mounted easily on this vehicle, and within these enclosures is a new in-pod battery management system. Leviathan also hosts a fully functioning pneumatic system with torpedoes and droppers.

Kraken is derived from Odysseus, one of our vehicles from the 2019 Robosub Competition. Kraken features a new battery mounting system as well as a more robust network of valves on our valve enclosure to further prevent water intrusion.

A new hydrophones enclosure has been added to Kraken with a fourth piezoelectric transducer to aid in tracking pingers more accurately during the competition. Additionally, there is a newly designed transmit enclosure which will work in tandem with the hydrophones system to achieve inter-sub communication.

Odysseus takes after the designs of Thor, Artemis, and Castor while featuring a new, roomier main enclosure with more space electrical boards and a diagnostic LCD screen.

Outside of its enclosures Odysseus features more dynamic mounts than ever before, with swinging brackets and flexible 3D printed clips allowing for maximized use of valuable space around the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Ajax is a spiritual successor to Pollux and is our first minisub to feature a fully functional pneumatic system and deploy our newly redesigned torpedo and dropper systems.

Castor and Pollux were the next evolutionary step of AUV technology. The move to a Nvidia Jetson computer system allowed our computer programs to run faster and more efficiently in a more compact form-factor while a new communication protocol enabled both better SLAM navigation and sub-to-sub communication. A complete revamping of the subs' hydrophones tracking system and an FPGA-based controller that determined the location of underwater pingers were also included.

Meanwhile, a new DVL allowed Castor to be a third smaller than our previous main sub. At the same time Pollux was upgraded to feature 8 thrusters, a full hydrophone system, and passive manipulators, even in the smallest minisub hull CUAUV has ever designed.

Artemis & Apollo continued on lessons learned from Thor & Loki. Artemis features numerous improvements that make it easier to maneuver and easier to swap parts, such as real time dynamic thrust vectoring, a modular quick-Access PCB backplane, modular hot-swappable battery pods, and modular bulkhead panels.

Apollo features a dual inertial sensor fusion, CO2 pneumatically fired torpedoes, modular hot-swappable battery pods, and can communicate acoustically with Artemis.

Thor has a mechanical design that implemented ideas from previous double-hull and single-hull AUV designs. Thor introduces vectored thrusters that can be dynamically repositioned to maximize vehicle speed and maneuverability. It also has sliding electronics racks which allow for better access to the bulkheads and easier electrical integration.

Together, Thor and Loki worked in tandem to complete the RoboSub course faster than ever before. Due to Loki's compact size, we had to rethink the way our AUVs are designed. Loki features a hot swappable battery inside of a single hull design along with a CO2 cartridge actuator system.

Argo is a sleeker, thinner submarine, with an overall hull diameter over a half inch slimmer than Gemini. In addition, a new electronic integration has been integrated and supported by the rack system, decreasing wire clutter within the hull.

Finally, with new software vision developments, the front of the sub now has just one camera, rather than two, allowing for additional space for actuators.

Gemini is CUAUV's 2013-2014 model and signifies a return to prior design principles, incorporating an extended acrylic enclosure. This feature allows the submarine to accommodate more sophisticated electronic systems, enhancing the speed and power of processing algorithms.

The added length also contributes to improved stability and faster rotational movements. Furthermore, the increased count of thrusters renders Gemini one of the most responsive submarines in our fleet, a characteristic augmented by the power supply from our dual battery pod design.

Ragnarök represents the 2012-2013 model of the CUAUV vehicle, and further implemented feedback from the previous two seasons. With a new set of thrusters combined with better placement, came increased control over our pitch and yaw movements, while still maintaining great maneuverability.

Additionally, revamping our pneumatics systems enabled us to construct more accurate torpedo and dropper systems, winning us RoboSub once again.

Killick, CUAUV's model for the 2011-2012 season, builds on the groundwork laid by the 2011 Drekar design. It focuses on further optimizing component placement while preserving submarine stability.

Thanks to advanced image processing algorithms and improved heat management systems, the model features more compact front camera enclosures. Additionally, productivity during testing has significantly improved due to quality of life enhancements, such as strategically positioned handles and readily accessible components for quick troubleshooting.

Drekar is the CUAUV 2010-2011 vehicle, a joint competition and research vehicle. The design focuses on reducing the size and weight of the vehicle platform while maintaining full competition capabilities and control properties.

The main improvements include stronger frame structures and pressure vessels, a streamlined electronics system, improved sensor suite, and improved vision algorithms.

Tachyon is CUAUV's 2009-2010 vehicle, designed using much of what we learned from our previous vehicles with many new innovations that improve vehicle performance.

Tachyon was designed to be a joint competition and research vehicle, with an expanded payload area and better control characteristics.

Nova was the next generation of CUAUV submarines. Expandable and capable of both close in maneuvering and long range sensing missions, it is a transition vehicle between competition missions and CUAUV's new research based open water focus.

The Triton AUV is CUAUV's 2007-2008 littoral hovering AUV. The new vehicle borrows heavily from the successful elements of the Proteus AUV, as well as certain elements from the Seamonkey class vehicle.

The main electronics are contained in a single clear acrylic hull. To improve maintainability the hull may be removed from the electronics rack without disconnecting any of the electronics. The end caps are made out of aluminum for superior thermal performance.

CUAUV's 2007 competition vehicle is named Proteus. Proteus is the mythological son of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon, also commonly referred to as the old man of the sea. He is famous for his ability to change shape - a perfect symbol for our new vehicle which has morphed from the SeaMonkey into a sleek and even more reliable new model.

Proteus is a 40" long x 20" tall vehicle with the ability to autonomously complete tasks under water. The vehicle is smaller, lighter, faster, and more efficient than any of the team's previous vehicles. The new design is able to balance functionality and performance

The two bottom pods are designed as battery hulls that can easily be removed from the vehicle, even while the vehicle is up and running. This new battery design does not interrupt onboard electronic operations, which allows the team to remove one battery while the vehicle runs on the other.

Seamonkey was CUAUV's 5th generation vehicle. To date, it was the most versatile vehicle and well suited as a platform for developmental research and lake deployment. The central frame provides easy access for mounting sensors and any other payload.

The larger top hull houses the vehicle electronics, while the bottom hull contains the vehicle's batteries and motor controllers. The combination of relatively high buoyancy on the top hull and greater weight on the bottom hull gives the vehicle an excellent static stability on the pitch and roll axes.