Raspberry Pi-Powered AUV Places Third In Singaporean Competition

Coconut Pi

(Image Credit: http://www.cnet.com)

The Raspberry Pi and the Arduino were both used n the Coconut Pi, an underwater robotic vehicle that was developed by Singaporean engineering students. This shows that the use of the credit card-sized computer is only limited by the creativity of the people using it.

The autonomous underwater vehicle or AUV was created by engineering students from the National University of Singapore. The Raspberry Pi was used for the memory-intensive functions of the AUV while the Arduino was used for precision control.

Team Coconut Pi placed third at the 2013 Singapore Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge. The team was sponsored by RS Components, a reseller of the miniature computer. The AUV was capable of identifying a following a black line as well as surface when it detected the yellow-colored floating ring.

A webcam was used to allow the Coconut Pi to detect obstacles, and the miniature computer served as the brain of the AUV. It features accelerometers, pressure and flow sensors, magnetometers, and gyroscopes.

Since the hull of the Coconut Pi cracked around one week before the competition itself, the team used a simple Lock & Lock plastic box that cost around $16 to waterproof the AUV.

Following the competition, the team did not have any other plans for the Coconut Pi, which means they will likely disassemble it to use its components for other upcoming robotic projects. However, it does show that the Raspberry Pi can be used for just about anything.