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arXiv · 2503.10928

Design and Development of the MeCO Open-Source Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

David Widhalm·Cory Ohnsted·Corey Knutson·Demetrious Kutzke·Sakshi Singh·Rishi Mukherjee·Grant Schwidder·Ying-Kun Wu·Junaed Sattar
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Abstract

We present MeCO, the Medium Cost Open-source autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), a versatile autonomous vehicle designed to support research and development in underwater human-robot interaction (UHRI) and marine robotics in general. An inexpensive platform to build compared to similarly-capable AUVs, the MeCO design and software are released under open-source licenses, making it a cost effective, extensible, and open platform. It is equipped with UHRI-focused systems, such as front and side facing displays, light-based communication devices, a transducer for acoustic interaction, and stereo vision, in addition to typical AUV sensing and actuation components. Additionally, MeCO is capable of real-time deep learning inference using the latest edge computing devices, while maintaining low-latency, closed-loop control through high-performance microcontrollers. MeCO is designed from the ground up for modularity in internal electronics, external payloads, and software architecture, exploiting open-source robotics and containerarization tools. We demonstrate the diverse capabilities of MeCO through simulated, closed-water, and open-water experiments. All resources necessary to build and run MeCO, including software and hardware design, have been made publicly available.

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David Widhalm, Cory Ohnsted, Corey Knutson, Demetrious Kutzke, Sakshi Singh, Rishi Mukherjee, Grant Schwidder, Ying-Kun Wu, Junaed Sattar. 2025-03-13. Design and Development of the MeCO Open-Source Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.10928

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