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Development of underwater robotics

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2017 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 803 012108

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 International Conference on Information Technologies in Business and Industry 2016 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 803 (2017) 012108 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/803/1/012108

International Conference on Recent Trends in Physics 2016 (ICRTP2016) IOP Publishing

Journal of Physics: Conference Series 755 (2016) 011001 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/755/1/011001

Development of underwater robotics

A P Nyrkov1, A A Zhilenkov1, V V Korotkov1, S S Sokolov1, S G Chernyi1

1
Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping, Dvinskaya Str.,
5/7, 198035, St. Petersburg, Russia

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. In the scientific surroundings, the statements that Oceanographic researches are, in
many aspects, more complex and challenging, even compared to space research are not rare.
Now, in the middle of the second decade of the XXI century, there is no doubt that the study of
the oceans has become an issue of global importance, covering economic, industrial, social,
defense and many other activities and interests of the society in the modern world. We are
seeing the necessity of expanding the boundaries of Oceanographic research, increasing the
number of types and growth of quality of measurements in the water column as well as their
systematization, increasing of the depths of research, which is caused by the growing necessity
of sea bottom studies, etc.

1. Introduction
Most projects of similar research are applied and become known mainly due to their commercial
implementation. Undoubtedly, in the modern realities, it is more and more difficult to conduct
scientific research regardless of the urgent production problems. Thus, cooperation of commercial
structures, research institutions, military departments, etc. is required for the successful
implementation of most projects. Certainly, the results of such projects can be effectively used by all
the organizations listed above. For example, almost any innovation in the surveillance and search,
under-ice and other studies in one form or another can be used for strategic or tactical military
purposes.
In the present article the authors give an overview of the historical development of underwater
technical vehicles and dwell on the modern representatives of this class of vehicles – Autonomous
(Unmanned) Underwater Vehicles (AUV). The authors touch upon the structure of this class of
vehicles, problems to be decided, and perspective directions of their development, cover scientific
materials basing mainly on the data about the benefits of the application of the vehicles in a number of
tasks of narrow focus.

2. Materials and methods

"Scat" was the first AUV of its kind, developed in the USSR. It made it possible to conduct research at
depths of up to 300 m. The first development of the domestic AUV allowed getting experience that
became the basis for subsequent developments, which included the first AUV for deep-water studies
like "L-1" (working depth up to 2000 meters) and "L-2" (working depth up to 6000 meters). It should
be noted that the working depth of diving up to 6000 meters is sufficient to reach the 98% of the
bottom of the world ocean of the Earth. These devices were the first modular AUV that allowed
people to work at such significant depths.

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 International Conference on Information Technologies in Business and Industry 2016 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 803 (2017) 012108 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/803/1/012108

In 1982, AUV “L-2” (Fig.1) performed inspection work in the area of the death of the nuclear
submarine "K-8", which was at a depth of about 5,000 meters. During that work, more than 80 dives
were made and tens of thousands of panoramic images of the surveyed area were taken.

Figure 1. АUV «L-2». Work in the North Atlantic, in the area of the death of NSM «K-8». 1982. [4]

In five years, with the same apparatus, search and inspection were carried out in the place of crash
of the submarine "K-219" near the Bermuda islands. Then, using the "L-2", rescuers managed to not
only find the scene of the accident, but also collect more than forty thousand photographs. And then,
in two years, the apparatus participated in the examination of the sunken submarine Komsomolets in
the Norwegian sea.
It should be noted that this AUV was provided with mixed management: the targeting was carried
out in the manual mode through the transmission of control commands to AUV from the ship of
technical support via the hydro-acoustic communication channel; being targeted at the object of study,
AUV switched to autonomous work and executed the given program. In doing so, AUV was able to
bend around obstacles through the front sonar system rangefinders
Overall, for the whole world, the 70-s of the last century from the point of view of the evolution of
AUV were the time of experimentation with technology in the search for the potential applications of
AUV. It was the time of significant success and serious setbacks, and a significant qualitative leap in
the development of AUV.
Practical and design experience obtained during the development of these devices has allowed a
further increase of the autonomy of AUV. Work was done on implementation of AUV to conduct
bathymetric shooting, gravimetric measurements, studies of currents in the ocean, as well as works
under the ice.
Another significant advantage of these devices was their modular design, which allowed unifying
the system of AUV, making them multi-purpose and managing without re-equipment of technical
support vessels to work with them. More fully the advantages of a modular AUV were implemented in
such developments as the MT-88 (Fig.2), the test of which took place in the Pacific ocean in 1989.
This AUV was designed for Oceanographic research and geological exploration of the seabed.
Tests were combined with pilot-production work on the detailed examination of individual sections of
the seabed in the area of rift of the Clarion-Clipperton with deposits of ferromanganese nodules. On
the plot with different geomorphological structures and the differences of depths from 4200 to 4600
meters, using the AUV, researchers conducted a hydro-acoustic, video and photo profile of the bottom,
worked out methods of work [1-4].
The Naval center of ocean systems, the U.S. (SPAWAR), began development of AUSS (Advanced
Unmanned Search System) in 1973. The first test of completed AUSS took place in 1983 and the
system operated until 2000. This AUV has a silver-zinc battery at 20 kilowatt/hour, which allowed it
to have an autonomous range of up to 10 hours. The unit is used for searching for different objects in
the depths of the oceans. Initially, it was used to search for sunken bombs, mines, and submarines.

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 International Conference on Information Technologies in Business and Industry 2016 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 803 (2017) 012108 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/803/1/012108

Figure 2. АUV «MT-88» [4]

AUSS (Fig.3) does not use cable, but has a remote control and information exchange on the time
scale close to real. An onboard acoustic system transmits compressed data at a speed of 4800 bit/s and
takes commands at the speed of 1200 bit/s. AUSS performed the maneuver autonomously. The
operator merely pointed out the direction and the purpose of the search. Then, AUSS itself continued
to do necessary actions to fulfill the tasks of AUV. For search operations, AUV used two sonars, and a
camera installed on board allowed the operator to identify the object definitively. Navigation was
carried out with Doppler sonar and the gyrocompass. In addition, the technical support vehicle
clarified the absolute position of AUSS through the channel of hydro-acoustic communication.
Refinement was performed according to the indications of the GPS receiver installed on the ship.

Figure 3. AUSS (the U.S.A.) [5]

AUSS is up to 6 m long. Its descent depth is 7000 m, and its reverse ascent takes one hour.
A standard set of research equipment.
AUV of that time already included hydro-physical sensors, a side-scan sonar, video system and a
camera.
In 1990-2000, on the basis of the development mentioned above, the developers were able to move
ahead from singular samples, which were made rather to confirm one or another concept, to the first
generation of operational systems able to achieve definite goals. The range of potential users of the
developed devices and the list of targets started to clarify. That decade is characterized by the
implementation of a number of international projects and consolidation of developers from different

3
 International Conference on Information Technologies in Business and Industry 2016 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 803 (2017) 012108 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/803/1/012108

countries.
In the 90-s of the last century, our country participated in a number of successful international
projects too. The most important developments of that period are AUV "CR-01" (Fig.4), "CR-02" and
"OKPO-6000".

Figure 4. АUV «CR-01» [4]

In 1991, the Treaty on construction of AUV "CR-01" was signed between the Far East branch of
the Russian Academy of Sciences and Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (SHIA KAHN). The tasks of the unit included Oceanographic studies of the mineral reserves
at depths up to 6000 meters, therefore, the set of onboard equipment of the apparatus included an
acoustic Profiler. Profiler allows researchers to scan the layers of bottom sediments to a depth of 50 m
and to determine the structure of sedimentary rocks [4]. As a result of the project, Russian constructors
made the system of "CR-02", the structure of which repeated "CR-01", in collaboration with SHIA
KAHN.
The first test of AUV "OKRO 6000", developed in collaboration with DAEWOO Corporation of
the Republic of Korea, took place in 1996. "OKRO 6000" was also designed for diving at depths down
to 6,000 meters and was intended for Oceanographic research. Further testing at greater depths
conducted in the late 90-s showed the possibility of using AUV for geological exploration [4].
Project AOSN (Autonomous Oceanographic Sampling) has much in common with the concept of
DSSN. It involves the creation of a network of fast, small and cheap devices of information collection,
capable of carrying out various payloads, and allows one to choose the sensors that best suit the
specific objectives of the mission [6]. In the framework of AOSN, researchers developed an
inexpensive device "Odyssey", which is 2 meters long and is able to operate up to 20 hours
autonomously regardless of the temperature conditions, bottom topography and underwater currents.
The processor "Motorola 68030" was used in the "Odyssey" on-Board system.
Another important feature of the decade of the 90s is the transition of AUV projects to
commercialization. Since 2000, the segment of commercial use of AUV has appeared and begun to
grow in the world market. It was in the first decade of the XXI century when the first commercial
products appeared in the market of AUV. AUV technologies proved to be useful for commercial
purposes. There were commercial programs based on the use of AUV. Thus, in the early twenty-first
century, technologies of AUV began to move from a purely academic and research sphere into the
commercial mainstream of the ocean industry.
Modern technologies of AUV. The latest developments of AUV in our country can present a small
apparatus "MT-2012" (Fig.5) and so-called solar AUV or SAUV [9], designed by the Far East branch
of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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 International Conference on Information Technologies in Business and Industry 2016 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 803 (2017) 012108 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/803/1/012108

Figure 5. Compact offline unmanned underwater vehicle MT-2012

We can also mention the device "Bluefin-21" worked out by the company "Bluefin Robotics" and
used to search the crash site of the plane "MH370" of Malaysian airlines.
The peculiarities of modern AUV are as follows: the lack of functional dependence on the support
vessel, high speed of searching, large coverage, a wide range of depths of immersion, accuracy of the
target coordinate determination, accuracy of holding its own place in the area of deployment,
underwater autonomy of the vehicle, stealth capability (physical fields), universality for performing a
wide range of tasks, gathering data in close proximity to the object.

3. Conclusion
There are already 17 developed oil and gas fields in the Black sea basin [10, 11]. The researchers have
planned the study of its shelf area. We expect new discoveries beyond the shelf zone, where 50 places
of potential oil and gas extraction have already been found. As it has been noted above, the AUVs of
monitoring of wells and maintenance of drilling platforms are highly demanded in these fields.
It is important to track the state of the pipelines and telecommunication lines that stretch at the
bottom of the Black sea. So, specialized AUVs which are able not only to detect the inspected object
and move along it, but to find the problem areas and prevent accidents, are necessary for these
purposes.
AUV can be effectively used to protect the naval bases of the Russian Federation in the Crimea.
They can be used to search for mines, including those remaining after the Great Patriotic war.
First of all, it is necessary to create scientific-technical basis, perhaps in cooperation with nearby
research-and-production associations, located in the Krasnodar region, while in the Crimea the
production base for AUV has not recreated yet. The production potential can be created on the basis of
shipyard and ship repair yard.

References
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[2] Taras A 2002 The history of submarines 1624-1904, Moscow. 240
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[4] http://www.imtp.febras.ru/
[5] http://www.nosc.mil/robots/
[6] http://www.computer-museum.ru/frgnhist/robwar.htm
[7] Kamgar-Parsi G B, Johnson D L and Belcher E O 1997 High-resolution underwater acoustic
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