PROWLER 4

This year's vehicle, the Prowler 4, is designed to efficiently satisfy the mission requirements set forth by the AUVSI competition specifications. The Prowler must first pass through a qualification gate, then make a decision depending on the direction a lit underwater arrow is pointing. The Prowler then heads to the corresponding target, and when it reaches its destination it will attempt to drop a custom-designed "smart" marker onto the target platform in an attempt to score points.

In order to meet these specifications, a lot of changes are neccesary in the Prowler's upgrade from last year's version. First, a brand-new system must be built and tested to deploy the markers as accurately as possible. Also, a new camera system must be implemented so that the Prowler will make the correct decision and head towards the correct target. In addition to these mission-specific imporvements, the team is also rebuilding the entire Prowler in a top-down approach. The team is also making vast changes in its sonar arrays, which allow it to navigate using the pingers present around the course, as well as determine how deep the vehicle is. All of these improvements are made from lessons learned over the past two years while using the Prowler 2 and 3. It is the goal of this team to give the Prowler a fresh new look to match our new ideas and strive to be the team to beat at this year's competition.