AUV "TUNA-SAND" and its Exploration of hydrothermal vents at Kagoshima Bay

In this paper, we introduce a newly developed AUV (Autonomous underwater vehicle) "TUNA-SAND"(Terrain- based Underwater Navigable AUV for Seafloor And Natural resources Development) and its exploration of the hydrothermal vent in Kagoshima Bay, Japan carried out on August 2007. TUNA-SAND is a hovering type AUV constructed in March 2007 as a platform for visual investigation of seafloor features.