Osprey: High-Speed Electric Unmanned Surface Vessel for Payload Transport

Abstract

The US Navy is always exploring various manned and unmanned vessel options for its fleets and aims to develop its workforce to continue this effort. This thesis presents the design, assembly, and validation of Osprey: a high-speed, unmanned surface vessel for payload transportation to compete in the Promoting Electric Propulsion competition run by the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The vessel runs twin inboard motors capable of outputting 12 kW of power at 44.4 V nominal, with a total weight of 120 lbs and a theoretical top speed of 80 mph. The hull is fully custom-made in-house using a carbon fiber resin infusion process. The powertrain features a water-cooled heat-exchanging system and a conventional RC-scaled boat driveline setup. The electrical system includes a low voltage battery and a remote kill switch module that allows the vessel to be shut off at any time. Dry and wet testing validated that the vessel meets all design requirements and began to provide an understanding of the vessel's on-water performance, demonstrating that Osprey is an excellent, reliable platform to continue developing and testing.