Development of a Resident AUV for Scientific Observation

This paper describes the development of a resident Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) aimed at enlarging the spatial extension of conventional fixed-point long-term in situ ocean observation systems. Ocean scientists were invited to describe potential use cases of an initial technical concept of resident AUV. From those use cases, operational and functional requirements were derived, enabling a pre-design study. Then some critical building blocks were either developed or simply fine-tuned and qualified depending on their Technical Readiness Level. The permanent positioning of the vehicle is multi-sensor based. Optical and acoustic positioning solutions are discussed, as well as the sensor fusion approach. All components of the selected docking solution are described in detail. The design and main technical choices made for the docking station are described. Finally, the test plan - main cost factor of this development - is detailed, before concluding remarks.