27-03-2012, 01:09 PM
AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE
55826714-Autonomous-Underwater-Vehicles.docx (Size: 609.91 KB / Downloads: 141)
INTRODUCTION:
An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is a robotic device that is driven through the water by a propulsion system, controlled and piloted by an onboard computer, and maneuverable in three dimensions. This level of control, under most environmental conditions, permits the vehicle to follow precise preprogrammed trajectories wherever and whenever required. Sensors on board the AUV sample the ocean as the AUV moves through it, providing the ability to make both spatial and time series measurements. Sensor data collected by an AUV is automatically geospatially and temporally referenced and normally of superior quality. Multiple vehicle surveys increase productivity, can insure adequate temporal and spatial sampling, and provide a means of investigating the coherence of the ocean in time and space.
HISTORY:
The first AUV was developed at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington as early as 1957 by Stan Murphy, Bob Francois and later on, Terry Ewart. The "Special Purpose Underwater Research Vehicle", or SPURV, was used to study diffusion, acoustic transmission, and submarine wakes.
CLASSIFICATION:
Mobile robots may be classified by the environment in which they travel:
• Land or home robots. (humanoid, or resembling animals or insects).
• Aerial robots are usually referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
• Underwater robots are usually called autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)
• Polar robots, designed to navigate icy, crevasse filled environments
SENSORS:
Sonar (originally an acronym for SOund Navigation And Ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in Submarine navigation) to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels. Two types of technology share the name "sonar": passive sonar is essentially listening for the sound made by vessels; active sonar is emitting pulses of sounds and listening for echoes.
NAVIGATION:
Discription: Operation of a Long Baseline (LBL) underwater acoustic positioning system for ROV. Interrogator (A) mounted on the ROV transmits an acoustic signal that is received by baseline transponders (B, C, D, E). The reply of the baseline transponders is received by (A). Either the time-of-flight or the corresponding distances A-B, A-C, A-D and A-E are transmitted via the ROV umbilical (F) to the surface, where the ROV position is computed and displayed on a tracking screen.
APPLICATIONS:
Until recently, AUVs have been used for a limited number of tasks dictated by the technology available. With the development of more advanced processing capabilities and high yield power supplies, AUVs are now being used for more and more tasks with roles and missions constantly evolving.
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES:
“The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be”. –Paul Valery
AUVs are now at an early stage of acceptance. As they work their way into the phase of operational acceptance on a commercial level, their numbers will grow. Academia is not only using AUVs but also spinning off firms to supply commercial versions. And the US Navy is gearing up to push the technology, ensuring that cost-effective systems are available for use by the fleet in the future.
55826714-Autonomous-Underwater-Vehicles.docx (Size: 609.91 KB / Downloads: 141)
INTRODUCTION:
An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is a robotic device that is driven through the water by a propulsion system, controlled and piloted by an onboard computer, and maneuverable in three dimensions. This level of control, under most environmental conditions, permits the vehicle to follow precise preprogrammed trajectories wherever and whenever required. Sensors on board the AUV sample the ocean as the AUV moves through it, providing the ability to make both spatial and time series measurements. Sensor data collected by an AUV is automatically geospatially and temporally referenced and normally of superior quality. Multiple vehicle surveys increase productivity, can insure adequate temporal and spatial sampling, and provide a means of investigating the coherence of the ocean in time and space.
HISTORY:
The first AUV was developed at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington as early as 1957 by Stan Murphy, Bob Francois and later on, Terry Ewart. The "Special Purpose Underwater Research Vehicle", or SPURV, was used to study diffusion, acoustic transmission, and submarine wakes.
CLASSIFICATION:
Mobile robots may be classified by the environment in which they travel:
• Land or home robots. (humanoid, or resembling animals or insects).
• Aerial robots are usually referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
• Underwater robots are usually called autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)
• Polar robots, designed to navigate icy, crevasse filled environments
SENSORS:
Sonar (originally an acronym for SOund Navigation And Ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in Submarine navigation) to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels. Two types of technology share the name "sonar": passive sonar is essentially listening for the sound made by vessels; active sonar is emitting pulses of sounds and listening for echoes.
NAVIGATION:
Discription: Operation of a Long Baseline (LBL) underwater acoustic positioning system for ROV. Interrogator (A) mounted on the ROV transmits an acoustic signal that is received by baseline transponders (B, C, D, E). The reply of the baseline transponders is received by (A). Either the time-of-flight or the corresponding distances A-B, A-C, A-D and A-E are transmitted via the ROV umbilical (F) to the surface, where the ROV position is computed and displayed on a tracking screen.
APPLICATIONS:
Until recently, AUVs have been used for a limited number of tasks dictated by the technology available. With the development of more advanced processing capabilities and high yield power supplies, AUVs are now being used for more and more tasks with roles and missions constantly evolving.
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES:
“The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be”. –Paul Valery
AUVs are now at an early stage of acceptance. As they work their way into the phase of operational acceptance on a commercial level, their numbers will grow. Academia is not only using AUVs but also spinning off firms to supply commercial versions. And the US Navy is gearing up to push the technology, ensuring that cost-effective systems are available for use by the fleet in the future.