AUV Fleet Relay Architecture for Wide-Area Underwater Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional underwater mapping systems are inefficient due to high costs and limited area coverage, as they require a large host surface vessel paired with a single autonomous underwater vehicle, which restricts scanning capabilities and increases operational expenses.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system with multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) operating simultaneously with a single host platform, utilizing unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) as intermediate nodes to relay communications and data, allowing for wider scanning footprints and increased area coverage without the need for a large host vessel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single host surface vessel is paired with a single AUV for underwater mapping, then communication and control are simplified, but area coverage per unit time is limited and costs are high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the mapping system into multiple independent AUVs that operate simultaneously, each covering a portion of the survey area. This segmentation allows parallel operation of multiple vehicles, increasing overall area coverage while maintaining individual vehicle simplicity for communication and control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces surface vessels as intermediary platforms that coordinate multiple AUVs. These surface vessels act as intermediaries between the central control and individual AUVs, managing communications and data collection without requiring direct complex connections between all components
2Reliability
If a large host surface vessel is used to deploy and control AUVs, then mission control and navigation are centralized, but operational costs and personnel requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential control functions from a single large host vessel and distributes them across multiple smaller surface vessels. Each surface vessel maintains reliable control of its associated AUV(s) while the system as a whole achieves mission reliability through redundancy and distributed operation, reducing overall operational costs
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs multiple smaller, more cost-effective surface vessels instead of one expensive large vessel. These smaller vessels can be deployed and recovered more economically, reducing personnel requirements and operational costs while maintaining mission control reliability through their coordinated network
3Ease of operation
If acoustic communication is used between surface vessels and AUVs, then underwater communication is achieved, but communication range is limited by frequency and noise factors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses surface vessels as intermediary communication nodes between AUVs and the central control system. Acoustic communication occurs only over short ranges between AUVs and their nearby surface vessel counterparts, while longer-range communication between surface vessels uses radio frequency, effectively extending the overall communication range without compromising ease of operation
Data Source
AI summary
Multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are operated by a host platform by configuring the AUVs with intermediate nodes (such as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs)) so as to allow the host platform to manage multiple AUVs. The intermediate nodes act as a relay for communications between the host platform and the AUVs allowing the host platform to scale to higher numbers of vehicles thus simultaneously operating the entire fleet of AUVs. The AUVs may provide underwater mapping data. The host platform may be stationary. The host platform may communicate with the intermediate nodes by satellite.