Students From IIT Bombay in India Working on Intelligent AUV
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If students from the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT Bombay) have their way, they will provide the country’s naval forces with an intelligent AUV named Matsya, which will be capable of understanding its surrounding and operating accordingly. Aside from that, the system will also be able to re-attempt a task that it previously failed.
Named after the Hindu God Vishnu’s fish avatar, Matsya is built to control its own movements and conduct certain tasks without the need for human intervention. Current underwater vehicles used by the country’s naval forces are remotely piloted, while Matsya is “a submarine with a brain of its own,” according to a feature article on the system from Quartz.
Since its initial development in 2011, the AUV has undergone several upgrades. Initially, it was built to operate on a “single-hull system,” which allowed it to move from one point to another and identify objects underwater. Now, Matsya is capable of shooting torpedoes, grabbing objects and listening to underwater sound sources.
While the system still has some work to be done on it before it is ready for industry use, according to Varun Mittal, the IIT project’s leader, Matsya is getting closer and closer to completion.
“If asked where do we stand now on a scale of one to 10, where one denotes only a prototype and 10 a product of industry level, I would say we are currently somewhere near six or seven,” he says in an interview with Quartz.
The current version of the AUV is 3.5 feet, and can travel up to 150 feet under water with a 4+ hour battery life. According to Leena Vachhani, an associate professor in IIT-B’s systems and control engineering department, the current Matsya prototype is a mini AUV designed for tasks such as cleaning water tanks and lakes. At its full strength, Vachhani, who has been involved with the project since its beginning, and the students plan on Matsya being a micro-submarine.
While the system’s primary use will be for military actions and operations, it is believed that ecologists will also be able to use the AUV to explore great depths that are off limits, or to provide a more consistent and accurate monitoring of ocean life.
A team of up to 30 undergraduate students at IIT Bombay have been working on Matsya since initial development. Every year, freshmen are recruited to join the project, and replace departing seniors. Students working on the project come from a variety of majors, including mechanical, software, and electronics.
By July, the team hopes to have its more hydrodynamic fifth-generation prototype ready so that it can enter the RoboSub competition, which is hosted by the US Navy and AUVSI.
