An Untethered, Unmanned Submersible

The Naval Ocean Systems Center (NOSC) has been tasked by the U.S. Geological Survey to investigate the use of untethered, unmanned submersibles for underwater pipeline and structural inspection. A vehicle of this type is currently under development at NOSC. This robot vehicle, designed as a testbed for free-swimming vehicle technology, is of modular construction and can be expanded to accommodate varying payloads and a variety of sensor systems. The vehicle is 9 ft long, 20 in high, 20 in wide, and weighs approximately 400 lb. It is microprocessor controlled and is capable of following preprogrammed instructions. Programming is accomplished through an umbilical cable which is disconnected after the programming phase. After a time delay the vehicle then performs the preprogrammed operation.