Compact, lightweight Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) with robust navigation and range for riverine reconnaissance

The objective of this Phase II SBIR project is to develop and experimentally demonstrate a compact lightweight Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) with integrated sensing system for riverine reconnaissance (bathymetry and water current), robust autonomous upstream and downstream navigation, and bathymetric SLAM with minimal reliance (possibly none) on GPS availability. The development of an AUV for efficient and accurate spatial sampling with the required characteristics outlined above poses multiple technical challenges and an effective solution involves multiple innovative technological ingredients to overcome significant challenges arising from the requirements of compactness, high range, ability to transit upstream, and autonomous GPS-independent navigation. The proposed AUV system utilizes a synergistic combination of hydrodynamically efficient hull and propulsion designs, power management, an optimized integrated sensor suite, energy-efficient path planning and control algorithms, obstacle avoidance system, data fusion and navigation, and geo-referencing and SLAM algorithms to achieve a compact vehicle with extended upstream range and reliable autonomous operation in incompletely known riverine environments with intermittent GPS availability. The proposed project addresses the development of the AUV, designs and implementations of its hardware and software subsystems, hardware-in-the-loop simulation studies, and field testing of experimental prototypes of the AUV.