Variable-configuration UUVs for marine science applications

In this article, after a brief overview of trends in underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) design and applications, results in developing an automatic guidance and control system for Romeo are presented. Attention is focused on the design, development, and testing in the operating conditions of a bottom and ice-canopy following system and on the development of methodologies for the at-field identification of the vehicle dynamics in order to guarantee high motion-control performance, even in the presence of variations in the vehicle configuration. In particular, the system performance in the proximity of the coast, where there is only a very shallow column of free water between the ice-pack and the sea-bed, is discussed.