Transcript Document

Underwater Robots and
Equipment
Atmospheric Diving Suits
• Good to 2000’ and
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normally carry 6-8 hours
of working air and an
emergency backup.
Electric motor propulsion
systems.
Some with joint and hand
mechanical assist
systems.
Weighs ~ 1000 pounds.
Arthur C. Sanderson, professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, will display the robotic technology being developed by a team of research groups, including
Rensselaer, and led by the Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute directed by D. Richard Blidberg.
Sanderson also will participate on a panel of six robotics experts who recently completed a study to be
released at the Sept. 16 workshop. The World Technology Evaluation Center International Study of Robotics
is a two-year look at robotics research and development in the United States, Japan, Korea, and Western
Europe.
As the principal investigator of an NSF-funded project called RiverNet, Sanderson is working
collaboratively with other researchers to develop a network of distributed sensing devices and watermonitoring robots, including the first solar-powered autonomous underwater vehicles (SAUVs).
“Once fully realized, this underwater robot technology will allow better observation and monitoring of
complex aquatic systems, and will support advances in basic environmental science as well as applications to
environmental management and security and defense programs,” said Sanderson.
Flippers for propulsion?
AMOUR (Autonomous Modular Optical Underwater Robot)
AMOUR with sensors in MooreaWe designed, developed and deployed an underwater sensor network
capable of multi-modal perception, dual communications and mobility in the ocean. The hardware
consists of static sensor network nodes and mobile robots that are dually networked: optically for pointto-point transmission at 300kb/s and acoustically for broadcast communication over hundreds of meters
range at 300b/s. We have demonstrated the system during experiments with this system in the ocean, in
rivers, and in lakes.
This program is undertaking the implementation and in-water testing of two classes of biomimetic
autonomous underwater vehicles. The first is an 8-legged ambulatory vehicle that is based on the lobster and
is intended for autonomous remote-sensing operations in rivers and/or the littoral zone ocean bottom with
robust adaptations to irregular bottom contours, current and surge. The second vehicle is an undulatory
system that is based on the lamprey and is intended for remote sensing operations in the water column with
robust depth/altitude control and high maneuverability.
These vehicles are based on a common biomimetic control, actuator and sensor architecture that features
highly modularized components and low cost per vehicle. Operating in concert, they can conduct autonomous
investigation of both the bottom and water column of the littoral zone or rivers. These systems represent a
new class of autonomous underwater vehicles that may be adapted to operations in a variety of habitat
Flippers for Locomotion: Better Two? Better Four?
Madeleine, an underwater robot, is helping scientists and engineers better understand the most energyefficient way to use flippers for locomotion as well as to design more efficient underwater autonomous
vehicles. Credit: John Long, Vassar College.
An underwater robot is helping scientists understand why four-flippered animals such as penguins, sea turtles
and seals use only two of their limbs for propulsion, whereas their long-extinct ancestors seemed to have
used all four.
When researchers put a robot named Madeleine through her paces, they found that her top cruising speed did
not increase when she used four flippers instead of two -- apparently because the front flippers created
turbulence that interfered with the rear flippers' ability to generate forward propulsion. Maintaining the same
speed with four flippers also took significantly more energy.
Results from experiments such as these aid engineers in designing underwater autonomous vehicles and help
scientists understand why certain traits survived over others during the process of evolution.
• November 5, 2004
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Underwater Robot Makes History Crossing Gulf Stream
By Mario Aguilera
Like the sailing vessel used by Captain Joshua Slocum to sail solo around the
world 100 years ago, another ocean-going vehicle is making history. A small
ocean glider named Spray is the first autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, to
cross the Gulf Stream underwater, proving the viability of self-propelled gliders
for long-distance scientific missions and opening new possibilities for studies of
the oceans.
Launched September 11, 2004, about 100 miles south of Nantucket Island,
Mass., the two-meter-(6-foot)-long orange glider with a four-foot wingspan
looks like a model airplane with no visible moving parts. It has been slowly
making its way toward Bermuda some 600 miles to the south of Cape Cod at
about one-half knot, roughly half a mile an hour or 12 miles per day, measuring
various properties of the ocean as it glides up to the surface and then glides
back down to 1,000-meters depth (3,300 feet) three times a day. Scientists
recovered the vehicle this week north of Bermuda.
The AUV – Explorer
International Submarine Engineering, Canada
Principal Characteristics
Length
4.5 m to 6.0 m
Hull Diameter
0.69 m
Dry Weight
750 to 1250 kg
Working Range
120 km at 1.5 m/s with 75-Watt payload.
Range can be increased to 240 km with 2nd battery module
Maximum Depth
300, 1000, 3000 or 5000 meters
Speed Range
0.5 to 2.5 meters per second
Power Source
1.2 – 24 kWh Lithium Ion battery
Control Computer
Rack mount compactPCI system
Hydroplanes
3 planes. 2 foreplanes optional
Navigation
IxSea Fibre-Optic or Ring Laser Gyro INU
Velocity Sensor
RDI Workhorse 300 or 600 kHz DVL
Positioning
Motorola GPS antenna on fixed or telescoping mast
USBL transponder
Depth Sensor
Paroscientific Digiquartz transducer
Altitude Sensor
KSM 675 kHz Digital Altimeter
Acoustic Communications
ORCA MATS 200 or LinkQuest UMW4000
Radio Telemetry
900 or 2400 MHz radio, Iridium satellite communications
Payload Capacity
Without removing trim lead – 200 kg
Emergency Equipment
ORE LXT Transponder locater, Novatech Strobe,
RF Radio Beacon