Micro-Ballast Dispenser for Long Endurance Underwater Mapping Platforms

The development of low cost, long endurance autonomous platforms is critical to scale our ocean monitoring capabilities. This paper describes a novel micro-ballast dispenser designed to precisely control the buoyancy of low energy seafloor mapping platforms such as the Lagrangian imaging float without the need for seawater density profiles to be known. Simulations are performed to analyse the impact of different ballast-weight design options on the energy required to maintain a fixed altitude over rugged terrains using a vertical thruster. The results show that large energy savings can be achieved by using a high-resolution buoyancy control system while maintaining fail-safe nature of drop weights. The proposed buoyancy management approach offers unique advantages for long-endurance seafloor mapping platforms.