Self Contained Explorer Doppler Velocity Log

The Explorer Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) is new to the vehicle this year. It replaced the Workhorse Navigator Doppler Velocity Log, also manufactured by Teledyne RD Instruments. This is the first year that a self contained version of their Explorer DVL has been available.

The Sinister Penguin relies heavily on the DVL for navigation. The majority of our navigation is done by dead reckoning. This requires a high degree of accuracy when estimating position and velocity. Throughout the year we have been improving our understanding of the new DVL and we are very confident that it will be up to the task when we get to San Diego in July.

(This years DVL is much smaller at fits compactly along the bottom of the vehicle)

The team experienced unexpected problems with the DVL during the 2011 competition. We have narrowed down a couple of the causes, probably stemming from inexperience with the brand new DVL model. More testing and experimentation is currently being done to narrow down the sources of the problems we encountered. We anticipate being able to have a fully reliable system well before next years competition.

Helpful Self Contained Explorer DVL Links:
Teledyne Explorer Page
Explorer DVL Datasheet

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