Publications / 2006 Proceedings of the 23rd ISARC, Tokyo, Japan

Autonomous Underwater Towed Vehicle with Various Navigation Modes

Tetsuya Shiraishi, Jin-Kyu Choi, Toshinari Tanaka
Pages 42-45 (2006 Proceedings of the 23rd ISARC, Tokyo, Japan, ISBN 9784990271718, ISSN 2413-5844)
Abstract:

This paper introduces an autonomous towed vehicle which has various navigation modes; towed mode, autonomous mode and kite mode, to stand against fast and changeable sea currents. The property assures safe and reliable observation works irrespective of a current speed. Such vehicle must be useful for port area application since in a port area sea currents are so fast and complex. The different navigation modes can guarantee safe and reliable underwater observations irrespective of the speed of a sea current. In general, the natures of AUVs and towed vehicles are mutually contradictory. This paper describes the process of development to achieve mentioned different navigation modes. The results of computer simulations, towing tank tests and the first sea trial are presented. The sea trial showed that the vehicle can be operated stably in the towed mode as well as in the autonomous mode.

Keywords: AUV, Towed vehicle, Port area, Security