Design considerations and operational advantages of a modular AUV with synthetic aperture sonar

Author

Taylor, Mikell ; Wilby, Andy

Author_Institution

Bluefin Robot. Corp., Quincy, MA, USA

fYear

2011

fDate

19-22 Sept. 2011

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

Synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) has numerous qualities that make it desirable for use in hydrographic survey, mine warfare, and other subsea survey applications. Improvements in power consumption and mechanical footprint, as well as decreased cost, have recently enabled SAS integration onto small- and medium-size AUVs, expanding the potential applications for SAS usage. However, SAS-AUV integration requires careful consideration of a number of factors. This paper provides an overview of SAS technology as well as the features and performance of the PROSAS Surveyor and the Bluefin-12 AUV, discusses the engineering challenges of combining the two systems, and describes the resulting operational advantages of the integrated system.

Keywords

autonomous underwater vehicles; design; synthetic aperture sonar; Bluefin-12 AUV; PROSAS surveyor; design consideration; engineering challenge; hydrographic survey; integrated system; mechanical footprint; mine warfare; modular AUV; operational advantage; power consumption; subsea survey application; synthetic aperture sonar; Data handling; Integrated circuits; Navigation; Sonar applications; Synthetic aperture sonar; Underwater vehicles; AUV; Applied Signal Technology; Bluefin Robotics; Bluefin-12; PROSAS Surveyor; SAS; UUV; autonomous underwater vehicle; synthetic aperture sonar; unmanned underwater vehicle;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

OCEANS 2011

Conference_Location

Waikoloa, HI

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-1427-6

Type

conf

Filename

6107156