Sea Technology

AUG 2015

The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community

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www.sea-technology.com August 2015 / st 33 F or more than 70 years, the exact location of one of the world's largest and most technically advanced WWII bat- tleships, the Musashi, was unknown. Sunk in October 1944, it required the tenacity of a Bluefn UUV to locate it in the Sibuyan Sea in March 2015. The Bluefn UUV needed only three dives to locate the shipwreck (see video at http://bit. ly/1Hb5pcN). Just a few years ago, this level of undersea technology had yet to be fully realized. Intense deep-sea pressures, the extreme cold of the deep ocean and the highly corrosive properties of seawater present unique challenges in design- ing, developing and improv- ing unmanned underwater vehicles. In fact, developers of submersibles say that de- signing a vehicle for this en- vironment is harder than de- signing for space. The Growing Potential Of UUVs Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are motor- ized entities designed to work underwater without a human occupant. There are generally two classes of these vehicles: AUVs and ROVs. AUVs are powered by onboard batteries, fuel cells or other energy sources and carry out preprogrammed missions. They are capable of communicating with op- erators via fber-optic cable, acoustic links, wireless net- works or satellite communi- cations. Traditional AUVs can operate for tens or hundreds of miles, with endurance measured in hours or days, depending on their power source. AUV systems can vary in size from vehicles under 100 lb. to vehicles that weigh thou- sands of pounds and require a dedicated support vessel. ROVs are tethered vehicles with umbilical cables that transmit power, sensor data and commands from operators on the ocean surface. They are capable of long periods of endurance, though they are limited to the extent of their tether. With their steadily improving capabilities, unmanned underwater vehicles are increasingly called on for tough missions, from oil and gas exploration to national defense. Battelle and its subsidiary, Bluefn Robotics, have built a series of UUVs designed to take on extremely challeng- ing environments and collect essential data. For example, the Bluefn-21, designed to function at depths of 2.8 mi., operates sonar to collect data and is capable of scanning an area a half-mile wide as it travels above the ocean foor. Each time the Bluefn-21 is returned to the surface ves- sel, its data can be down- loaded and used to create a high-resolution 3D map of the seafoor. The Bluefn-21 has also been used for mis- sions as diverse as searching for the remains of Malaysia airliner MH-370 and aiding in oil and gas exploration. UUVs for Offshore Exploration Recent advances in sens- ing, battery endurance and tracking stability are making UUVs an indispensable tool Powering the Next Generation Of Unmanned Undersea Systems Batteries, Underwater Charging Extend Power Limits for UUVs By Bob Geoghegan The Bluefn-21 is launched off the stern of RV Resolution as part of testing protocol.

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