Tracking and remote monitoring of an autonomous underwater vehicle using an unmanned surface vehicle in the Trondheim fjord

Abstract

This paper presents a demonstration conducted in the Trondheim fjord, where an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed and operated by Maritime Robotics AS was used to relay acoustic information sent by a REMUS 100 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), to an onshore operation center. The AUVs mission was to conduct a survey of a Short Sunderland type aircraft, which was sunk just outside Munkholmen in 1945. The progress of the AUV and the USV were available in real-time throughout the demonstration, and was presented in Maritime Robotics' in-house Vehicle Control Station (VCS) software. The acoustic telemetry data was also relayed to the REMUS Vehicle Interface Program (VIP), used for monitoring the health of the AUV. Furthermore, the USV used the telemetry messages sent by the AUV, containing e.g. position and heading, to autonomously track the AUV during the survey. Throughout the mission, only 63% of the modem messages was received by the USV, and the longest time between telemetry updates was 6 minutes, but the USVs ability to track the AUV and relay data was successfully demonstrated.