Forward-Looking Sonar and System Upgrades for the MPL/SIO s 21-in AUV
Abstract
"The objective of this proposal is to acquire and install a high-quality forward-looking sonar (FLS) system that also can be used as a bathymetric multibeam sonar, along with advanced navigation, battery/energy, and vehicle flight software upgrades for the 21-in-diameter autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) operated by the Marine Physical Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego (MPL/SIO/UCSD). These upgrades will greatly aid present and future Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored programs including the Autonomous Hydrothermal Vent-Hunting AUV program, the Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors program, the Smart Mine-Hunting AUV program, the Task Force Ocean initiative, and the AUV-based gravity sensing project. The MPL/SIO AUV has been operated by the Ocean Vehicle Development Group engineering team since the AUV was acquired in 2004.This group also designed, constructed, and successfully tested at sea the ONR-sponsored Flying Wing Autonomous Underwater Gliders (e.g., Jenkins and DSpain, 2016). The approach proposed herein therefore leverages heavily on the groups 20+ years of experience with AUVs, as well as the 4 previous decades with creating, designing, and operating remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technology. The upgraded MPL/SIO AUV with its multi-application sonar system will provide a high-quality ocean data acquisition system platform to support the Ph.D. thesis research of graduate students at SIO for at least the next 1-2 decades."
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 08, 2020
- Source ID
- N000141912718
Entities
People
- Gerald D Spain
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, San Diego