Design of Low-Cost Unmanned Underwater Vehicle for Shallow Waters W.H. Wang*, X.Q. Chen, A. Marburg, J.G. Chase, C.E. Hann Abstract Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) have received worldwide attention and been widely used in various applications. In this paper, a recently developed low cost UUV prototype at the University of Canterbury is introduced, which is designed specifically for shallow water tasks, especially for inspecting and cleaning sea chests of ships for biosecurity purpose. The main hull of the UUV is made of PVC, with a 400mm diameter and 800mm length. External frames mount two horizontal propellers, four vertical thrusters, and power is derived from onboard batteries. The maximum thrust force of up to 10kg that is provided by the propellers can generate a forward/backward speed of up to 1.4m/s for the 112kg UUV. The vertical thrusters provide depth control with a max thrust force of 20kg. The UUV is equipped with a range of sensors capable of sensing its instantaneous temperature, depth, attitude and surrounding environment. Costing less than US$10,000 for a prototype, it provides an excellent platform for further underwater vehicle development targeting shallow water tasks with a working depth up to 20m. Index Terms Unmanned underwater vehicle, low cost, hull design, shallow water inspection I. I NTRODUCTION Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) offer many advantages for performing difficult tasks submerged in water. Although many names are given to these vehicles, such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), submersible devices, or remote controlled submarines, to name just a few, the fundamental task for these devices is fairly well defined. They operate in conditions and perform task that humans are not able to do efficiently, or at all [1], [2], [3]. First developed in the 1960’s, development was driven by the demand from the US Navy [4], which required them to perform deep sea rescue and salvage operations. Since then, other sectors have realized the potential of such devices for all manner of tasks. The first of these was the oil and gas industry. These companies employed UUVs to reinforce in the development of off shore oil fields [5]. In the 1980’s, UUVs came into a new era as they were able to operate at depths well below commercial diver limits. Falling oil prices and a global recession resulted in a stagnant period in terms of UUV development in the mid 1980s. Since then however, UUVs have been developing at a fast rate [6], [7]. Wang, Chen, Chase, and Hann are with the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand (* Correspondence Author. E-mail: wenhui.wang@canterbury.ac.nz). Marburg is with Geospatial Research Centre (NZ) Ltd, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.