Development of the cruising-AUV “Jinbei”

JAMSTEC has developed a cruising autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and a working AUV for observations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in deep sea and explorations of underwater minerals since 2010. This paper concentrates topic on the former AUV. The AUV named “Jinbei” is 4 meters long and 2 tons in weight. Its propulsion is four rear-thrusters and two mid-ship thrusters with azimuthal control. It has a rear X-ladder. The main sensors for observation are a pH-CO₂ hybrid-sensor developed by colleagues, a side scan sonar, and a multi narrow beam echo sounder. We carried out the first and second sea-trials for the system debug and performed function tests in February and March 2012. We obtained an interest CO₂ vertical profile data near the sea surface in Sagami-bay. In this fiscal year, Jinbei is in operation phase.