AUV docking system for existing underwater control panel

The development of the AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) the past years, has given a cost effective alternative solution in underwater research. These vehicles free from any tether can perform literally in any environments which make them the first choice in underwater exploration today. The main constrain is the life of their batteries. Docking stations and docking techniques are being developed nowadays to solve this problem. The AUV will have the capability to dock, recharge, download data and upload new mission and tasks to be executed and so to be truly permanently deployed on all weather conditions. The current trend in AUV research is the development of intervention AUVs (I-AUVs) that would be able to replace the currently operating remote operated vehicles (ROVs), offering a more economical solution in underwater intervention tasks. In this essay, based on the analysis of the existing docking methods´, benefits and draw backs, we propose a new docking mechanism for I-AUVs. Finite element analysis is performed to validate the proposed panel.