Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

More than 80% of the world's oceans remain unexplored, but autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) may soon be available to help with mapping, March 7 reported. With the continuous progress of technology, the research of AUV is expected to make a breakthrough and be used in more fields.

By pre-programming, AUV can explore areas of the ocean floor that are inaccessible to humans and can operate independently without humans on board or under their control. Scientists often use AUV for underwater research, and oil and gas companies often use AUV for deep-water surveys. But AUV's biggest market has become the military sector.

AUV is a very useful tool in military marine exploration, helping to obtain critical information, such as mapping the seabed, finding mines and providing underwater surveillance. Navies all over the world are investing in AUV to improve their underwater defense capabilities.

Us defense contractor Anduril Industries acquired Dive Technologies, a maker of AUV, in February and began to expand from land to sea. The acquisition gives them a customizable AUV called Dive-LD.

"there are more and more surface and underwater threats that only robotic systems can deal with," Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril Industries, said in announcing the acquisition. "these systems can avoid enemy surveillance, avoid what you see in the air, and do things that can only be done underwater."

In addition to the acquisition of Dive Technologies, Anduril Industries expanded its operations to Australia in March and signed a $100m contract with the Australian Ministry of Defence in May to design and build three super-large AUV for the Royal Australian Navy.

In the UK, the Royal Navy recently ordered the first AUV called the CETUS XLUUV from MSubs, which is expected to be delivered in about two years.

Boeing has been working on AUV since the 1970s and has cooperated with the U.S. Navy and DARPA on certain underwater vehicle projects in recent years. Echo Voyager is Boeing's first super-large AUV, which first became operational in 2017 after about five years of design and development. The AUV is about 15.5m long and about the size of a school bus and can be used for oil and gas exploration, long-term measurements and infrastructure analysis for oil and gas companies.

Echo Voyager has been at sea for nearly 10,000 hours and has traveled hundreds of kilometers on its own. Ann Stevens, senior director of Boeing's Maritime Undersea business, said the Echo Voyager uses a modular design and has many functions. Echo Voyager is unique in the world in terms of size and ability.

Boeing has been developing Orca XLUUV with funding from the U.S. Navy. In February 2019, the company won a $43 million contract to build four AUV models based on Boeing's Echo Voyager design. The project has experienced many delays, and Orca XLUUV, originally scheduled for delivery in December 2020, is now scheduled to be completed in 2024. Boeing explained that increased costs and supply chain problems caused by the outbreak were the main reasons for delivery delays.

"this is a development project and we are developing unprecedented breakthrough technology," Stevens said. "We are always in step with the Navy and will provide a great AUV."

Maani Jiffri, an assistant professor in the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at the University of Michigan, says robotics and automation are still emerging areas of technology in general. Researchers began developing AUV about 50 or 60 years ago, despite the limited quality and variety of sensors needed to build the system. Today, sensors are smaller, cheaper and of higher quality.

"We are at a stage where we can build better and more efficient hardware and sensors for robots, and we hope to deploy some robots to daily life at some point," Jiffri said. "

However, AUV still has many challenges to overcome before it can become an everyday device. First of all, the robot must be able to work in a worse environment than in the air, and the higher density in the air creates hydraulic resistance, which slows the robot down and consumes its power more quickly.

However, some AUV under development are impressive in terms of speed and endurance. Boeing said it expects the Orca XLUUV to reach 6500 nautical miles. Anduril Industries reported that Dive-LD can perform tasks on its own for up to 10 days and has the ability to complete tasks that last for several weeks.

Environmental challenges are a major problem for AUV, whose underwater communications are limited because the signals used to transmit information in the air are quickly absorbed in the water, and the clarity of the camera on the AUV is reduced underwater.

Whether AUV will eventually be used as a surveillance tool and involved in underwater warfare is more about the ethical issues common in AI and robotics, Jiffri said. Although these devices may be so complex that they can make their own decisions, people are worried when these decisions may affect human lives.

Mr Jiffri added: "it has been assumed that fighting can basically be handed over to robots rather than soldiers, which, after all, helps to reduce casualties. On the other hand, when AI can make decisions and actions faster than humans, it may increase the destructive power they can wreak. This is an unexplored frontier area and we must discuss these issues before we make real progress in the future."

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