CETUS - Composite Endoskeleton Testbed for Undersea Survey

CETUS was develop at MIT Sea Grant Laboratory, under the leadership of James Bellingham and through funding provided by Lockheed-Martin Marine Systems. Joseph Curcio directed the design and development effort while working at the Sea Grant Lab.

Several unique and novel features evolved through the course of this project. These included the creation of a single-skin composite structure that serves as the outer hydrodynamic hull-form while also functioning as a structural fuselage housing electronics and propulsion components.

The CETUS vehicle was a first-of-kind in proving capable of static station-keeping while submerged in any orientation. This was achieved through careful design and analysis resulting in coincident Cb and Cg (center of buoyancy and center of gravity), allowing the vehicle to remain neutral relative to righting moments.