These are some of the parts of a solar AUV that I have been working on. It may look a little abstract without the fairings, rudder, and propulsor, etc. mounted- but I wanted to share some of my progress.
These mounts are designed based on fluid compression fittings. The conical orange TPU pieces act as ferrules that wedge into the conical seats of the yellow mounts. A retainer will thread onto the yellow body and clamp the ferrules down, but the retainers aren’t shown here yet.
I designed the mounts this way because it allows them to slide along the parallel tubes that make up the backbone of the AUV, which makes it easy to adjust the center of mass and buoyancy. The compression fittings also eliminate the need for metal fasteners, which mitigates the potential for any possible corrosion with the carbon fiber.
