Our sensor mast provides a stable platform with an unobstructed field of view for the ZED camera and LiDAR to fully utilize the sensors’ capabilities. Our initial design consisted of a central PVC pipe with FDM printed mounts for the LiDAR, ZED, and various other sensors. The pros of this design was that it was easy/quick to manufacture; however, after thorough testing, we found that the mast exhibited a low-frequency swaying behavior when the boat was on the water. This interfered with the perception performance of our autonomy system, so we iterated on the design. The current design features three mounting points instead of two, contributing to a much stabler platform. It is made of ⅛” aluminum box tube braised into a rigid frame, and it features adjustable height vibration dampers to prevent the swaying behavior.

The current design features three mounting points instead of two, contributing to a much stabler platform. It is made of ⅛” aluminum box tube braised into a rigid frame, and it features adjustable height vibration dampers to prevent the swaying behavior.

Fig 1. (L to R) Old sensor mast vs new sensor mast