Design and operation of two remotely manned undersea vehicles

Several remotely manned undersea vehicles have been designed, constructed, and tested at the Naval Undersea Center. Two of these, Electric Snoopy and NAVFAC Snoopy, have been designed primarily for undersea inspection, surveillance, and recovery tasks to depths of 1,500 feet. NAVFAC Snoopy incorporates circuitry to automatically maintain vehicle heading as well as depth or altitude, and a multiplexing system which allows transmission of power, control signals, and data signals on a single small diameter coaxial tether cable. Uses of Electric Snoopy have included inspection and color documentation of coral beds, sunken ships, and fish spawning areas. Potential rescue and recovery capabilities have also been demonstrated by using a mechanical grabber and line reel attached to the vehicle.