SGER: Demonstration of a Solar Powered, Long Endurance, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Sampling System

Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute, Lee NH

Investigators

Abstract

The Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute (AUSI) will conduct a scientific feasibility study on a Solar Powered Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (SAUV) that it has been developing in conjunction with the Institute for Marine Technology Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Under ONR funding, the vehicle will undergo a series of engineering tests to validate its ability to conduct long endurance sampling tasks. The NSF-funded tests will be conducted in conjunction with Hawaii Ocean Time-series program (HOT), and involves the integration of scientific instruments on the SAUV. A CTD, O2 sensor, fluorometer, and radiometer will be added to the SAUV system. Resulting data will be compared with ship and buoy-based measurements for inter-calibration and to enhance interpretation. If successful, the SAUV will provide the oceanographic science community, with a tool for collecting real time data, on a near continual basis, within 800 meters of the ocean surface, for a minimum of 30 days, without the need for a support vessel.