Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a project I’ve been working on: OpenMantaClaus—a fully open-source, cheap Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV).
Why I Built This
When I first got into underwater robotics, the biggest barrier to entry was cost. Most reliable AUV designs rely on expensive compute platforms like NVIDIA Jetsons, high-end stereo cameras, and custom acoustic setups. I wanted to see how far relatively low-cost hardware could be pushed. There are many ways this project can be made cheaper, but I focused on balancing cost, reliability and comfort (using parts I have used before and trust) to be competition ready within the time-frame.
MantaClaus runs its entire autonomy stack on a Raspberry Pi, a Blue Robotics Navigator Flight Controller, and a single simple USB webcam. I built it independently on a tight budget for the Singapore Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge (SAUVC), where it managed to snag 2nd place!
Key Features & Architecture
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Software: Built on ROS 2. I extended and forked the ROS 2 BlueOS Extension (made by @ItsKalvik ) to run a containerized environment inside BlueOS for seamless deployment and node management.
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Vision & Navigation: Custom YOLO-based target detection and classical CV running off a standard USB camera.
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Hardware: Accessible, low-cost frame and electronics enclosure built using Blue Robotics and ROVMaker hardware.
Open Source Links
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Codebase & Getting Started: GitHub - OpenMantaClaus -
CAD & Hardware Design: GrabCAD - MantaClaus AUV -
YOLO Dataset & Vision Scripts: Kaggle - SAUVC YOLO Dataset
Since this is my first open-source release, I’d love for the community to check it out, build on it, or share feedback. Any thoughts, recommendations, or PRs are very welcome!