A simulator developed for a twin-pod AUV, the Marport SQX-500

A vertically arranged twin-pod autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is presently under development in St. John's Newfoundland. A large separation of the centre of gravity (CG) and the centre of buoyancy (CB) can be achieved by placing heavy batteries and payloads in the lower pod and placing the light controller and communication electronics on the upper pod. With the large vertical separation between CG and CB the twin-pod vehicle becomes highly stable in pitch and roll and thus provides an ideal platform for obtaining photos, video and sonar images of the seabed. This paper presents the vehicle motion simulations that have been done in support of this novel AUV design and development.