Wireless Data Communication of Underwater Drones

Wireless Data Communication of Underwater Drones

Overview

The BlueROV2 is the world’s most affordable, high-performance ROV, however, is limited by a physical wired connection in order to transmit data. Therefore, the goal of this project was to implement an acoustic modem into the existing BlueROV2 system to allow for the first-time wireless transmission of data through one-of-a-kind low size acoustic modems.

Community Benefit

This project has proven that underwater acoustic communication can be done, and that an underwater ROV can successfully transmit unidirectionally data without a physical tether. As a result, this opens doors to expand on with bidirectional communication and allow for more versatile and complex underwater tasks to be accomplished with these affordable, high-performance ROVs.  The impacts of this project are vast, the elimination of the physical tether promotes a safer environment for aquatic life that the BlueROV2 may encounter along with the possibility for the BlueROV2 can explore deeper depths and explore more ecosystems that were not possible before when tethered.

Team Members

Sponsor

Dr. Georgios Sklivanitis