Optimal Seafloor Mapping Technologies

This proposal addresses the challenge of improving the capability of littoral battlespace sensing, specifically the automation and optimization of bathymetric-hydrographic mapping capabilities of unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) platforms when operating in the littoral. Current UUV capabilities are challenged by limitations of fielded sensors and the integration/processing of those sensor outputs, resulting in manually intensive interface requirements, uncertainty of depth and navigation errors, inefficient coverage and data processing schemes, and excessive latency in availability of the final product. The focus of this Phase I feasibility study will be on the development of algorithms which will serve as the basis for adaptive autonomy. Consequential to the development of adaptive autonomy algorithms, SURVICE Engineering will also consider the feasibility of methods to quantify depth measurement errors, optimize coverage, minimize navigation errors, detect anomalous features, and network UUVs. Finally, the Phase I study will consider required sensor integration savings and processing approaches that may be taken advantage of when incorporating a novel sensor in place of the standard integration of separate multibeam and side scan sonars.