Seismic AUV Deployment via USBL and Phased Array Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies for deploying seismic autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to the ocean bottom are not cost-effective and present operational challenges, requiring a more efficient and reliable method to deploy thousands of AUVs for marine seismic surveys.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a combination of USBL and phased array systems for guiding AUVs to the seabed, where landed AUVs emit acoustic pulses at specific frequencies and times to guide flying AUVs, allowing for precise positioning and deployment of AUVs across multiple deployment lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional methods are used to deploy seismic AUVs, then the deployment process is simple, but the cost-effectiveness deteriorates and operational challenges increase
Solution Approach 1:
The deployment system is segmented into multiple functional components: USBL positioning system, phased array acoustic system, AUV fleet with individual guidance subsystems, and deployment vessel. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies the overall system by distributing functions across multiple independent elements rather than requiring a single complex integrated system.
Solution Approach 2:
Acoustic signals serve as an intermediary medium between the deployment vessel and the AUVs, carrying positioning and guidance information. The phased array acoustic system creates acoustic fields that mediate the communication and guidance between surface vessels and underwater vehicles, enabling precise positioning without direct mechanical connection.
2Measurement precision
If fewer guidance systems are used, then the system complexity is reduced, but the positioning precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges two guidance approaches: USBL (Ultra-Short Baseline) acoustic positioning for initial AUV deployment and phased array acoustic positioning for subsequent AUV guidance. By combining these systems, the patent achieves high positioning precision through complementary strengths of both methods, with USBL providing initial positioning and phased array enabling precise relative positioning and guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
Landed AUVs perform preliminary actions by emitting acoustic pulses at specific frequencies and times to establish reference signals. These preliminary acoustic emissions create a foundation for subsequent AUVs to determine their positions and guidance paths, enabling precise positioning without requiring complex real-time computation during the actual guidance phase.
3Productivity
If more AUVs are deployed simultaneously, then the productivity increases, but the operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic acoustic pulses emitted by landed AUVs at specific time intervals to guide flying AUVs. This periodic action creates structured temporal patterns in the acoustic field, allowing multiple AUVs to be guided simultaneously without signal interference. The time-division multiplexing of acoustic signals enables coordinated operation of numerous AUVs while maintaining operational simplicity through standardized periodic protocols.
4Measurement precision
If acoustic pulses are emitted at higher frequencies, then the guidance precision improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs different acoustic frequencies for different functions: higher frequencies for precise guidance signals from landed AUVs and lower frequencies for general communication and positioning. This local quality differentiation allows the system to achieve high guidance precision where needed without uniformly high energy consumption across all acoustic transmissions. The phased array system also focuses acoustic energy spatially, improving precision without proportional increases in total energy consumption.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the efficient and cost-effective deployment of large numbers of AUVs, reducing complexity and increasing precision in seabed positioning, allowing for faster and more reliable seismic surveys.
Implementation Method 1
phased array techniques to guide flying AUVs to their intended destination
Implementation Method 2
landed AUVs emit acoustic pulses at specific frequencies and times to guide flying AUVs
Implementation Method 3
combination of USBL and phased array systems for guiding AUVs to the seabed
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods for deploying seismic autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to the seabed by using a variety of guidance systems and/or positioning/communication protocols based on a particular AUVs location. A combination of a USBL system and a phased array system may be used to deploy different groups of AUVs on one or more deployment lines of a seismic survey area. The deployment lines may be generally perpendicular or parallel to a deployment vessel's direction of travel. Once a certain number of AUVs have landed on the seabed, the landed AUVs may be used to guide flying AUVs to their intended seabed destination by using acoustic pingers and phased array techniques. Time intervals for acoustic signals emitted from landed AUVs may be generated using a predetermined Time of Emission pattern and received by a phased array receiver on flying AUVs.