UNMANNED SURFACE VEHICLE – TRITOR

Abstract

This paper presents an unmanned surface vehicle Tritor that was developed, constructed, and tested within an innovative, multi-purpose, multidisciplinary, low-budget and environmentally friendly solution. The idea behind this work was trying to invent a new concept of a miniature surface vehicle that will be unmanned, remotely controlled and autonomous, with electric propulsion, and with an innovative Three Slender Cylinders Hull (3SCH) form gaining advantages in comparison to existing surface vehicles. This initial work is focused on vehicle prototype design, propulsion system development and optimization, control design, and trials, while research related to advantages of the vehicle in terms of naval architecture criteria such as drag and power, stability, seakeeping, and maneuverability will be investigated in further work. In addition, the paper intends to contribute to a new trend in developing vehicles with electrical propulsion that could use renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar energy. The potential usage of the vehicle can be civilian or military, and further work will be focused on larger models, improved based on the experience got during the development of the vehicle. Tritor vehicle was successfully designed, constructed, and tested in real environmental conditions. The preliminary results show that the vehicle has required performances and potential for improvements in the future. The main scientific contribution of this work is advanced surface vehicle development with a focus on a new hull form and the integration of electric propulsion in it.