Zakhar Zhukov, a graduate of the Altair Children's Technopark at RTU MIREA, has developed a control unit for the Nerpa unmanned marine vessel, the university's press service reported. The device, based on the ATmega1280 microcontroller, collects data from GPS, multi-GNSS receivers, and inertial sensors, and automatically switches the platform to a fully autonomous mode if communication is lost.
The boat's hull is 3D-printed from PLA plastic, and power is supplied by batteries and solar panels. The modular design allows the Nerpa to be equipped with additional equipment – from cameras and underwater drones to landing pads for UAVs. The software is written in C++ in the MicrochipStudio environment, and telemetry is transmitted via a GSM module with an interference-resistant antenna array.
The development has already received recognition: the project won the "Golden Dozen" competition and the "Engineers of the Future" conference. Currently, the schoolboy plans to integrate artificial intelligence elements into the system, transfer control to a single-board computer, and create user software for mobile devices, which will turn the Nerpa into a full-fledged research platform for environmental monitoring and search and rescue operations.
The Nerpa is a development by the Rostec concern (TsNIITochMash and MAKO), presented as an underwater robot for protecting water areas and objects from combat swimmers. It has a mass of about 30 kg, a diving depth of up to 50 m, and a range of up to 4 hours.
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