Towards autonomous ocean observing systems using Miniature Underwater Gliders with UAV deployment and recovery capabilities

This paper presents preliminary results towards the development of an autonomous ocean observing system using Miniature Underwater Gliders (MUGs) that can operate with the support of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) for deployment, recovery, battery charging, and communication relay. The system reduces human intervention to the minimum, revolutionizing the affordability of a broad range of surveillance and data collection operations. The MUGs are equipped with a small Variable Buoyancy System (VBS) composed of a gas filled piston and a linear actuator powered by brushless DC motor and a rechargable lithium ion battery in an oil filled flexible enclosure. By using a fully pressure tolerant electronic design the aim is to reduce the total complexity, weight, and cost of the overall system. A first prototype of the VBS was built and demonstrated in a small aquarium. The electronic components were tested in a pressure testing facility to a minimum of 20bar. Preliminary results are promising and future work will focus on system and weight optimization, UAV deployment/recovery strategies, as well as sea trials to an operating depth of 200m.

[1]  Curt Schurgers,et al.  A swarm of autonomous miniature underwater robot drifters for exploring submesoscale ocean dynamics , 2017, Nature Communications.

[2]  R. Sharma,et al.  A computing based design model of pneumatic driven variable buoayncy system for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles , 2016, OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey.

[3]  Marc MacLeod,et al.  Dynamic Modeling, Analysis, and Testing of a Variable Buoyancy System for Unmanned Multidomain Vehicles , 2017, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[4]  D. C. Webb,et al.  SLOCUM: an underwater glider propelled by environmental energy , 2001 .

[5]  Koji Shibuya,et al.  Development of a New Buoyancy Control Device for Underwater Vehicles Inspired by the Sperm Whale Hypothesis , 2009, Adv. Robotics.

[6]  Harold Franklin Jensen.  Variable buoyancy system metric , 2009 .

[7]  Ricardo Martins,et al.  The LSTS toolchain for networked vehicle systems , 2013, 2013 MTS/IEEE OCEANS - Bergen.

[8]  Tor Arne Johansen,et al.  Network of heterogeneous autonomous vehicles for marine research and management , 2016, OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey.

[9]  David M. Fratantoni,et al.  UNDERWATER GLIDERS FOR OCEAN RESEARCH , 2004 .

[10]  Christoph Waldmann,et al.  Performance data of a pneumatic variable buoyancy engine for a newly designed underwater glider , 2016, OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey.

[11]  Tor Arne Johansen,et al.  A communication bridge between underwater sensors and unmanned vehicles using a surface wireless sensor network - design and validation , 2016, OCEANS 2016 - Shanghai.

[12]  Xiaobo Tan,et al.  Miniature Underwater Glider: Design and Experimental Results , 2014, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[13]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Exploration of underwater life with an acoustically controlled soft robotic fish , 2018, Science Robotics.