Study, design and realization of a communication system for untethered underwater vehicles

Abstract

This master thesis aims to design and realize a high-speed communication system for untethered underwater devices fulfilling three criteria : 1) Providing a short range, up to 50 m, untethered transmission system from the ROV or AUV to the receiver; 2) Having a data rate in the Mbps range suitable for the transmission of multimedia contents; 3) Having a limited cost in order to be more accessible than existing devices with a total BOM price under 1,000.00 EUR. After an evaluation of the technical approaches of the transmission system and the underwater environment, an optical communication system was specified. Then the design and various components of the final system were evaluated, selected, crafted and tested. The objectives were met, though additional testing to validate the maximum range of the system is required.