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Re: AUV Questions

On Wed, 13 May 1998 18:21:32 -0400 (EDT), Coast Guard Kiteman
<exfloridians@ecsu.campus.mci.net> wrote:

>         "AUV"?  ["Autonamous Underwater Vehicle"?]

Yes. Basically a robot submarine, with a very complicated computer "brain".
The software running an AUV is considerably more complex than what is
required for a land-based robot, for a number of reasons.

>         Jon, are most AUV's being designed or built right now straight
> battery powered?

Most are battery powered, but there are exceptions. I have seen one AUV
that uses a closed-loop diesel engine, and another that uses a hydrogen
fuel cell.

The real problem with the fuel cell is getting rid of the water it
produces. For shallow water (<1000 feet), it's not a big deal, but at
20,000 feet, the pressure outside makes venting the hull of anything
impossible.

I don't suspect you'll ever see a small fuel-cell powered deep-diving sub,
because of that. What some people are looking at for long-term use is
having a "mother ship" station on the bottom, with a big cable carrying
power and data to the surface. The AUVs would periodically dock at the
mother ship to recharge their batteries and download data, and upload any
new instructions/missions.

Later,
Jon

--------------------------------------------------------------
   Jon Hylands      Jon@huv.com      http://www.huv.com/jon

  Project: Micro Seeker (Micro Autonomous Underwater Vehicle)
           http://www.huv.com