The Nereus hybrid underwater robotic vehicle for global ocean science operations to 11,000m depth

This paper reports an overview of the new Nereus hybrid underwater vehicle and summarizes the vehicle's performance during its first sea trials in November 2007. Nereus is a novel operational underwater vehicle designed to perform scientific survey and sampling to the full depth of the ocean of 11,000 meters - almost twice the depth of any present-day operational vehicle. Nereus operates in two different modes. For broad area survey, the vehicle can operate untethered as an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of exploring and mapping the sea floor with sonars and cameras. For close up imaging and sampling, Nereus can be converted at sea to operate as a tethered remotely operated vehicle (ROV). This paper reports the overall vehicle design and design elements including ceramic pressure housings and flotation spheres; manipulator and sampling system; light fiber optic tether; lighting and imaging; power and propulsion; navigation; vehicle dynamics and control; and acoustic communications.

[1]  Louis L. Whitcomb,et al.  EXPLORING THE DEEPEST DEPTHS: PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A NOVEL LIGHT-TETHERED HYBRID ROV FOR GLOBAL SCIENCE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS , 2004 .

[2]  L.L. Whitcomb,et al.  Longitudinal Control Design and Performance Evaluation for the Nereus 11,000 m Underwater Vehicle , 2007, OCEANS 2007.

[3]  Hanumant Singh,et al.  Surveying a Subsea Lava Flow Using the Autonomous Benthic Explorer (abe) , 1998, Int. J. Syst. Sci..

[4]  Robert S. Dietz,et al.  Seven miles down : the story of the bathyscaph Trieste , 1961 .

[5]  W. Broad,et al.  The Universe Below: Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea , 1997 .

[6]  Hanumant Singh,et al.  Experimental Results in Synchronous-Clock One-Way-Travel-Time Acoustic Navigation for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles , 2007, Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[7]  William Alameda.  SEADeViL A Totally Integrated Inertial Navigation System (INS) Solution , 2002 .

[8]  H. Singh,et al.  Field Tests of a New Camera/LED Strobe System , 2006, OCEANS 2006.

[9]  J.D. Stachiw,et al.  Alumina ceramic 10 in flotation spheres for deep submergence ROV/AUV systems , 2005, Proceedings of OCEANS 2005 MTS/IEEE.

[10]  Taro Aoki,et al.  Optical communication system for expendable fiber optics ROV UROV7K system , 1999 .

[11]  C. Taylor,et al.  Field Tests of the Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV) Light Fiber Optic Tether , 2006, OCEANS 2006.

[12]  Fernando Martinez,et al.  Why is the Challenger Deep so deep , 2003 .

[13]  S. Singh,et al.  The WHOI micro-modem: an acoustic communications and navigation system for multiple platforms , 2005, Proceedings of OCEANS 2005 MTS/IEEE.

[14]  Brian Bingham,et al.  Techniques for Deep Sea Near Bottom Survey Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle , 2007, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[15]  Hanumant Singh,et al.  Advances in Doppler-based navigation of underwater robotic vehicles , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[16]  Victoria A. Kaharl.  Water Baby: The Story of Alvin , 1990 .

[17]  Louis L. Whitcomb,et al.  Preliminary field experience with the DVLNAV integrated navigation system for oceanographic submersibles , 2004 .

[18]  Taro Aoki,et al.  Development Of Expendable Optical Fiber Cable ROV "UROV" , 1992, OCEANS 92 Proceedings@m_Mastering the Oceans Through Technology.

[19]  H. Thomas,et al.  Performance of an AUV navigation system at Arctic latitudes , 2005, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[20]  T. Murashima,et al.  Thin cable system for ROV and AUV in JAMSTEC , 2003, Oceans 2003. Celebrating the Past ... Teaming Toward the Future (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37492).

[21]  Debra S. Stakes,et al.  Tiburon: development of an ROV for ocean science research , 1994, Proceedings of OCEANS'94.

[22]  R. McCabe,et al.  Proof of concept demonstration of the Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV) light fiber tether system , 2008, OCEANS 2008.

[23]  S. Weston,et al.  Alumina ceramic 3.6 in flotation spheres for 11 km ROV/AUV systems , 2005, Proceedings of OCEANS 2005 MTS/IEEE.

[24]  J. I. Gobat,et al.  WHOI Cable: time domain numerical modeling of moored and towed oceanographic systems , 1998 .

[25]  Robert C. Spindel,et al.  An acoustic navigation system , 1974 .

[26]  M. Grosenbaugh,et al.  Application of the generalized-α method to the time integration of the cable dynamics equations , 2001 .

[27]  J.D. Stachiw.  Ceramic External Pressure Housings for Deep Sea Vehicles , 2006, OCEANS 2006.

[28]  M. B. Larsen,et al.  High performance Doppler-inertial navigation-experimental results , 2000, OCEANS 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37158).