The Yellowfin is a single man portable micro-UUV which weighs less than 17lbs. The mission for the Yellowfin is to conduct autonomous homogeneous collaborative operations. The system uses multi-agent collaborative technologies to autonomously control and coordinate multiple UUVs.
The behavior modules were developed and implemented using the open source Mission Oriented Operating Suite (MOOS) architecture along with the Interval Programming (IvP) Helm software module. The MOOS architecture was coupled with MissionLab open source software tools developed by Georgia Tech. This suite of software was then used to develop and test behaviors for both single UUV autonomy and a team of autonomous collaborating UUVs. This coupling of software allowed for the development of highly capable UUVs using behavior-based autonomy. By using open source and standards-based development in the design of Yellowfin, we have attained a modular and adaptable suite of platforms that support flexibility in mission execution. The design also decouples the vehicle autonomy logic from the mechanical control of the vehicle hardware, so that upgrades and adaptations are readily incorporated. Yellowfin is also designed to seamlessly incorporate different sensors, so that collaborative behaviors will enable coordination between the different vehicle sensors. The result is a standards-based system capable of supporting intelligent autonomy, from perception to situational understanding to automated responses. This section will show the initial design of Yellowfin.