A Modular Undersea Infrastructure for UUV Delivery and Replenishment
Abstract
The proposed work will provide a roadmap to design a modular undersea unmanned submarine that is capable of transporting payload, including a fleet of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and docking mechanisms to the mission area. When in the mission area, the UUVs fly out to perform the tasks and the infrastructure serves as onsite docking station to guarantee robust resource transfer and persistent operation. The goal is to develop a scalable modular UUV that take advantage of long-term operation of underwater gliders and can be equipped to launch, recharge, and recover traditional UUVs. Three research objectives will address hardware and control design challenges. The design will include considerations for large payload housing, high maneuverability performance, and carbon reinforced ABS fabrication. Adaptable collapsible docking mechanisms will be incorporated into the system for power and data transfer into UUVs that will be equipped with the designed receiver component. A charge-aware operation architecture will be developed to autonomously coordinate large-scale infrastructure and operating UUVs. The Optimization and formation strategies will create a collaborative system capable of configuring and reconfiguring itself depending on the scope of the mission as well as the energy consumption needs. This approach will result in more affordable multi-UUV deployment in novel high-risk applications and environments. The long-term outcome of this work will be persistent and stealthy large area presence of UUV fleets able to perform undersea Navy missions by autonomously deploying and responding to energy needs, situational dynamics, and environmental variables.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 11, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012085
Entities
People
- Nina Mahmoudian
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Virginia