A cocoon-based shipboard launch and recovery system for large autonomous underwater vehicles

Author

Sharp, K. ; Cronin, D. ; Small, D. ; Swanson, R. ; Augustus, T.

Author_Institution

Naval Oceanogr. Office, Stennis Space Center, MS, USA

Volume

1

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Firstpage

550

Abstract

The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) has completed testing and integration of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) launch and recovery system (LRS). The paper describes the design goals and initial field-test results for a unique method of launch and recovery for large vehicle systems (i.e., 10,000 pound/28-foot length). Designed and fabricated by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego for NAVOCEANO´s Seahorse class vehicles, the LRS is optimized for operation from high-freeboard T-AGS PATHFINDER class survey vessels and employs a modified vehicle-in-cocoon deployment and recovery technique. Launch and recovery operations are conducted without small boat assistance and provide a high margin of safety to personnel and vehicle systems

Keywords

mobile robots; ships; underwater vehicles; Naval Oceanographic Office; Seahorse class vehicles; cocoon-based shipboard launch and recovery system; design goals; high-freeboard T-AGS PATHFINDER class survey vessels; large autonomous underwater vehicles; safety; vehicle-in-cocoon deployment and recovery technique; Assembly systems; Boats; Marine vehicles; Remotely operated vehicles; Sea surface; Space vehicles; System testing; Underwater vehicles; Vehicle safety; Winches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

OCEANS, 2001. MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition

Conference_Location

Honolulu, HI

Print_ISBN

0-933957-28-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/OCEANS.2001.968780

Filename

968780