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www.sea-technology.com April 2015 / st 35 W ith Arctic and Antarctic exploration on the minds of government, academia and industry, there is exten- sive discussion on approaches to surveying these techni- cally challenging areas. Canada's Arctic waters are vast, and its coastlines are among the longest in the world. With the continual increase in vessel traffc, shipping opportunities, and renewed interest in oil and gas explora- tion in these waters, charting the largely unsurveyed subsea terrain has become the foremost priority, with additional concerns of safe passage and environmental impact to local communities. Being the only AUV manufacturer with deepwater plat- forms that have successfully overcome the formidable lo- gistical feats of data collection in the Arctic, International Submarine Engineering Ltd. (ISE), based in Port Coquitlam, Canada, has become a leader in felding this diffcult envi- ronment. Jim McFarlane, president of ISE, and his team of AUV professionals have paved the way with groundbreaking plat- forms to charter these under-ice conditions and collect the data needed. Background ISE's Arctic AUV capability has its genesis in ARCS, the frst platform to successfully perform obstacle avoidance and surveying in 1986. This provided the underpinnings of Theseus. The history of ISE's Arctic adventures began in 1992. The Canadian government wanted to lay a section of fber cable in ice-covered water off Ellesmere Island to connect to an offshore observatory. Theseus, a large under-ice AUV platform was designed and built for this purpose. In 1995, Theseus successfully deployed 200 kilometers of fber-optic cable and made a safe return. Over the last 30 years, ISE's Arctic technology has pro- gressed from scientifc applications into commercial prod- ucts on the latest survey vehicles, including a focus on ob- stacle avoidance, pipe-tracking capabilities and real-time data collection. "Obstacle avoidance plays a good role in promoting pipeline-following capabilities since the need is to search the route for unexpected things," said Jeff Williams, an un- derwater robotics specialist and leading AUV expert. "If the task is to follow a programmed route with unexpected haz- Maneuvering Under The Ice AUV Development in the Arctic By Gina Millar • Linda Mackay (Photo Credit: NRCan) An Arctic wolf.