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| AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) | |
|---|---|
| Name | AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) |
| Type | Uncrewed underwater vehicle |
| Uses | Survey, inspection, science |
AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) AUVs are untethered submersible platforms used for underwater tasks ranging from mapping to inspection. They operate without real-time human piloting and integrate sensors, navigation, and power systems to perform missions in environments such as continental shelves, trenches, and polar seas. Prominent programs and institutions have advanced AUV capabilities through collaborations among navies, universities, and industry.
AUVs are robotic vehicles designed for subsea missions by organizations such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Naval Research Laboratory, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and private firms like Lockheed Martin, Kongsberg Maritime, Thales Group, Schlumberger, and Ocean Infinity. They complement tethered platforms like Remotely operated vehicles and crewed submarines such as Alvin (DSV-2), and operate in concert with assets including autonomous surface vehicles, gliders, and drones. AUV programs intersect with projects such as Challenger Deep surveys, Titanic explorations, and seabed mapping for pipelines, cables, and environmental monitoring.
Early concepts trace to research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and prototype programs in the 1960s and 1970s involving agencies like Office of Naval Research and DARPA. Milestones include the development of vehicles by Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer teams, the REMUS family at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and industrial systems from Kongsberg Gruppen and Thales. Notable missions by institutions such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and projects like Deepwater Horizon response efforts accelerated adoption. Collaborations among universities such as MIT, Stanford University, University of Southampton, University of Tokyo, University of California, San Diego fostered advances in autonomy, sensors, and materials.
AUV architecture integrates pressure-tolerant hulls, payload bays, and modular interfaces developed by firms like General Dynamics and BAE Systems. Hull materials and shapes draw from work at Imperial College London and California Institute of Technology on hydrodynamics. Core components include inertial measurement units from suppliers associated with Honeywell, acoustic modems developed in collaboration with Texas A&M University, and payloads such as multibeam sonars by Norbit and sub-bottom profilers used in surveys for Energy Information Administration projects. Launch and recovery systems coordinate with vessels like RV Knorr and platforms such as RRS Sir David Attenborough.
Navigation relies on integration of inertial navigation systems, Doppler velocity logs, and acoustic positioning networks tied to assets like Ultra-Short BaseLine and Long baseline navigation systems used by Royal Navy and United States Navy. Control algorithms have roots in research from Carnegie Mellon University and University of Oxford and employ techniques from motion planning validated in trials at sites including Monterey Bay and Loch Ness. Mission management software often interfaces with standards from Open Geospatial Consortium and testing protocols of National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Propulsion options range from electric thrusters with battery technologies developed with Tesla, Inc.-grade lithium cells to hybrid systems explored in programs at Duke University and ETH Zurich. Fuel cell demonstrations linked to research by Sandia National Laboratories and Argonne National Laboratory extend endurance for deep missions. Energy management integrates power electronics from firms like ABB and regenerative systems inspired by research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
AUVs perform tasks for entities such as Royal Netherlands Navy, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, NOAA Fisheries, and oil and gas companies including BP and ExxonMobil. Applications include bathymetric mapping for International Hydrographic Organization charts, infrastructure inspection for undersea cables managed by SubCom, environmental monitoring linked to Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission programs, and scientific sampling in projects like Census of Marine Life and International Polar Year. They are used in search-and-recovery missions for wrecks like MV Sewol and exploratory operations related to HMS Erebus and HMS Terror archaeology.
Autonomy combines decision-making algorithms advanced at institutions including University of Washington, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Imperial College London with sensor suites such as side-scan sonar by Klein Associates, synthetic aperture sonar prototypes tested by DARPA, chemical sensors developed by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and biological samplers used in expeditions by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Data pipelines apply machine learning techniques researched at Google DeepMind and OpenAI for classification and mapping, and integrate geospatial frameworks from Esri and Google Earth Engine for post-mission analysis.
Operational safety leverages standards and guidance from organizations like International Maritime Organization, International Telecommunication Union for spectrum use, International Organization for Standardization committees, and national regulators including United States Coast Guard and Marine Safety Agency. Ethical considerations engage stakeholders such as Greenpeace, indigenous communities represented by organizations like Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and cultural heritage bodies including UNESCO. Policies on environmental impact, data ownership, and use in conflict settings are discussed in forums at United Nations assemblies and academic workshops at Royal Society.
Category:Robotics Category:Unmanned underwater vehicles