Configurable UUV Electric and Magnetic Field Sensor Network

Abstract

The major goal for the project was to develop and demonstrate the sensors, data acquisition and other equipment needed to conduct Underwater Electric Potential (UEP) and magnetic signature measurements with a commercial off the shelf (COTS) Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV).ONR ordered a UUV from Riptide Inc. as the COTS UUV for conducting UEP and magnetic signature measurements in conjunction with this research project. The completed vehicle was not delivered to ONR and Riptide Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 5th, 2019. BAE Systems acquired Riptide and stated their intention to fulfill the original order to ONR. But the vehicle was not delivered to ONR and was subsequently unavailable for use. In order to acquire a COTS UUV for this project the decision was made to use unspent travel/testing funds to purchase a nose and tail cone from BAE Systems to combine with the sensor and battery sections purchased in 2018. After receiving permission from ONR, a nose and tail cone were ordered from BAE Systems with the down payment being received on September 3rd, 2019. The sections were delivered to the UI on February 24th, 2020. These sections were combined to make a complete Riptide 1MP, see Figure 1.3 in the 2019 RPPR, for use in field testing. The project was successful in demonstrating the use of UI research UUVs to make UEP and magnetic signature measurements in an ocean environment. Field testing at SFOMF successfully demonstrated the UUVs could make magnetic field measurements with a noise floor in the 5 n-Tesla range. The UI research team developed an electric field sensor for making the UEP measurements. After several design iterations and tests the final version of the electric field sensor is a 3 diameter ball sensor with3-axis Ag/AgCl electrode pairs featuring an UI designed embedded low-noise pre-amplifier. The UI team also investigated and developed a prototype packed bed carbon electrode sensor.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1152855

Entities

People

  • Dean B. Edwards
  • Eric T Wholbrecht
  • James F. Frenzel
  • John R. Canning
  • Michael J. Anderson
  • Terrance Soule

Organizations

  • University of Idaho

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Amplifiers
  • Autonomous Surface Vehicles
  • Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
  • Data Acquisition
  • Detectors
  • Electric Fields
  • Instrumentation
  • Kalman Filters
  • Magnetic Detectors
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Magnetic Signatures
  • Magnetometers
  • Measurement
  • Salt Water
  • Sensor Networks
  • Underwater Vehicles
  • Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
  • Voltage

Readers

  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.
  • Research Science/Academic Research
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy