The application of a modular AUV to coastal oceanography: case study on the Ocean Explorer

Describes the application of the FAU/USF Ocean Explorer (OE) series autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to a series of coastal measurement tasks. The Ocean Explorer is a small, low-cost, long range AUV whose primary purposes are coastal oceanographic survey missions and support of littoral warfare. Over a dozen different sensor payloads are under development at USF and FAU for deployment on the OE vehicle. A brief description of the sensors systems and associated design considerations is presented. The OE AUV is a modular vehicle with a dedicated tail or propulsion section that houses the main computation, navigation, and control systems. A forward payload/nosecone section is left free for sensor payloads. Each payload has a dedicated nosecone section built for it so that no physical retrofitting is needed to change payloads. The electrical and control interface is an intelligent distributed control system (IDCS) based on the LONTalk protocol and Neuron chip. All the sensors and actuators on the vehicle are connected on a single serial network. A standard connector with power and network wires permits "plug and play" reconfiguration. The OE's modular nature provides for more cost-effective sensor deployment, and would allow researchers at institutions besides USF/FAU to build payloads for deployment. Interface specification and guidelines is discussed in order to facilitate this type of cooperation.