The Optonaut is a self-sustaining, pressure-tolerant AUV specialized for systematic remote benthic surveys and in-situ water quality parameter mapping in lower latitudes.
A Lean, Long-Endurance AUV Sensor Platform
During an average 3-hour surface-time recharge, an Optonaut communicates telemetry and system status with the pilot, and downloads any changes to its programmed mission. An Optonaut can rendezvous with a research vessel to transfer raw data via high-speed wireless. Researchers can retrieve rich data sets without the operational overhead of having to recover an AUV each day for charging. For remote missions, far from vessel support, select data may be directly transmitted from an Optonaut via Iridium satellite at low bandwidth.
Initiating a programmed dive mission passes navigational responsibilities to the Optonaut AI platform, a mode during which unnecessary functions (e.g., radios, GPS) are powered down to conserve energy. An intelligent, multi-bank battery management system orchestrates the "metabolic" control of subsystems.
While submerged, the Optonaut AI engine uses both acoustic and optical sensors to autonomously navigate a dynamic organic environment to complete its programmed mission, avoiding collision with detectable objects. Forward-Looking imaging sonar informs collision avoidance up to 50M ahead and down. In closer proximity, less than 25M, a 360°X360° photogrammetric model of the environment is built in real time, through which a navigable path is calculated. Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) sonar will provide sub-sea position tracking. Side-Scan sonar provides bathymetry.
Standard sensor payload includes Dissolved Oxygen, pCO2, CTD and pH, any of which may be periodically logged and/or continuously interrogated to follow a water parameter profile. Open Source extensible hardware enables custom sensors to be socketed into the wing and pump intakes; a stereo pair of selected sensors can act as sniffers to follow a molecular, chemical or thermal trail. Depth rating of the Optonaut SAUV architecture will be limited primarily by science payload specs, then to buoyancy foam limits.
Free from the need to sawtooth up and down between density gradients, an Optonaut will be capable of flying against ocean currents at low altitude over the benthos and in littoral areas inaccessible to AUV gliders.
Typical Glider Dive Profile
Image: Daniel Hernández-Sosa
OptoNaut Circadian Dive Profile-Indendence
Pressure-Tolerant Electronics can eliminate the hazard of pressure-vessel implosion and catastrophic buoyancy-loss. Optonaut failsafe options include dead-in-the-water (DIW) self-recovery: as long as the buoyancy foam remains intact an Optonaut will float, gliding to the surface to recharge working battery banks and reboot for communications and retrieval. Its rechargeable power supply is designed to last 3 years.
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As the Optonaut Project advances its optical hardware integration, we will introduce a selection of fluid-filled reflective optics for compact deep-water imaging.
Among its suite of optical tools, we will test the integration of our own Laser Line Scan (LLS) to its payload of competencies. Navigating a flight path just meters above the seafloor, LLS profilometry will augment sonar-mapped and video data for sub-centimeter resolution of features, fetching quantitative 3D bathymetric detail 1,000 times sharper than a sonar image of the abyss from a surface craft.
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A large research vessel can scan a much greater area per day with powerful sonar, while an Optonaut will deliver far higher resolution. A research vessel might use an Optonaut as a tool to augment their sonar image, functionally akin to sending a magnifying glass back for a closer look. Greater detail of a specific area might be collected by deploying a rugged Optonaut without even interrupting the ship’s transect. An Optonaut could help to ensure that an expensive opportunity at sea won’t be wasted.
Industrial-Scale Data
Without
Industrial-Scale Investment
To Map Larger Areas per Day in Ultra-High Resolution, Optonaut SAUVs are a perfect tool for cost-effective fleet arrays. A distributed sensor array enjoys the risk insurance that comes from inexpensive redundant platforms. In the event of a single system failure, a robust fleet can adapt its strategy and complete its mission.
The Optonaut minimalistic approach could actually make the promise of swarming AUV's practical.
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The Day Sailor - a compact UxV Cameraship For Non-Invasive Bio-Surveillence
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2017 Conceptual Illustration
On the Ocean Surface...
the Day Sailor deploys its gimballed "CommScope" (periscope/antenna mast) to establish a communications link. Intelligent power management recharges isolated battery banks, maximizing lifetime charge cycles while monitoring system health. Mission data can be downloaded while real-time telemetry is transmitted along with video and audio streamed from above or beneath the surface. This real-time, immersive telepresence allows for safe close-quarters navigation, for remote self-inspection, for shallow dive planning, as well as for intimate observation of sealife.
The Day-Sailor solar array will absorb a surplus of its hourly operational power needs when surfaced during peak sunlight, and carries a 24-hour total power capacity in reserve. A Day-Sailor can be put into service with a full charge and execute a day-long mission, while a few consecutive days total mission time is possible with careful planning.
Immerse Yourself. Have a Look Around.
Quick Dives can be spontaneously initiated to follow, circle or dwell near a target of interest in a kind of time-limited snorkeling behavior, and then return to the surface to reconnect for audio-video-log replay. Missions can be uploaded, and data downloaded via various communications options, depending on the pilot's proximity.