HR: 1340h
AN: OS43B-0561    [Abstracts]
TI: A Universal Docking Mechanism for Multiple AUVs With Differing Geometries
AU: * Singh, H
EM: hanu@whoi.edu
AF: Dept of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Blake 206, MS#7 WHOI, Woods Hole, MA 02540 United States
AB: One of the fundamental technologies associated with observatories is the concept of a docked autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) at a node capable of power and data transfer. The evolution of AUVs over the last few years has made it obvious that there will be a number of such vehicles and that these will fulfill different scientific needs and applications. Different scientific applications may require an AUV to work near the surface, in the mid-water column or near bottom. Sensors on the vehicle also dictate different vehicle characteristics. For example, the requirements for slow speed control or hovering near bottom versus long endurance and speed in the mid-water column yield radically different designs. These design characteristics and requirements have led to the development of a diverse set of AUVs such as the Remus AUV (small, torpedo shaped), the Odyssey AUV (larger, torpedo shaped),the ABE AUV (triple hulled, hover capable), and the Seabed AUV (double hulled, hover capable). While considerable effort and thinking has gone into the design of docking systems, each of these systems is specific to the AUV itself, and we are unaware of any published work that provides a common standard docking mechanism that can be utilized by all these assets. In this presentation we highlight our work in engineering a small docking mechanism that is capable of handling multiple vehicles with differing geometries within the same dock. Thus our docking mechanism can easily accomodate a small REMUS style torpedo shaped AUV as well as a larger multi-hulled ABE style AUV without modification on the same dock. In addition this dock is equally capable of being installed on the ocean floor, or anywhere within the water column. We present this system within the context of measures of efficiency that allow us to formulate the requirements for docking and evaluate our system as well as other existing systems or those that may be proposed in the future.
DE: 4294 Instruments and techniques
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting