AUV - Autonomous Underwater Vehicle | Marine Research Ltd.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) are designed for the investigation of underwater environments without a permanent control from a human operator. Working with AUVs requires a preliminary mission planning and loading of the planned survey in the memory of the on-board computer. After launching, the AUV travels on the pre-established track and depth using the positioning systems (inertial and satellite), water current velocity corrections and bottom-tracking (with the help of DVL – Doppler Velocity Log), constantly recording the parameters specific to the equipped sensors. The information is recorded in the internal memory and downloaded after the end of the mission and the recovery of the vehicle. The AUVs transmit periodically mission status messages via IRIDIUM and/or underwater acoustic modems.
AUVs can be launched and recovered from shore, jetties, small vessels, providing versatility in use on a wide range of applications.
What are the advantages of AUVs?
Bathymetry deals with determining the depth of the water in seas, lakes and rivers.
Dredging activities have the purpose of removing unwanted bottom sediments and their disposal at a different location.
Cables and pipes trajectory and extent on the seafloor can be quickly investigated and mapped using side-scan sonar imagery for further investigations.
Side-scan sonars used to obtain better images of underwater objects and features.
Traces of past civilizations are often to be found bellow the water surface.
AUVs are equipped with DVLs with ADCP. They gather data about how fast the water is moving bellow them.