Ryan Moody

Development of a micro autonomous underwater vehicle for complex 3-D sensing

Nekton Research is developing a new series of micro-autonomous underwater vehicles (MicroAUV) called Rangers/sup TM/ that house commercial, multi-parameter water sensor arrays. Teams of these 9-centimeter diameter MicroAUVs work together to allow multi-agent, distributed sensing of inshore and near shore water down to 100 m depth. Swimming in schools of 4 to 12 members, these vehicles will work together to characterize phenomena as diverse as chemical plume geometry, small scale mixing, and 3-D flow dynamics. This Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded program combines a matti-agent distributed network search algorithm developed at Sandia National Labs (SNL), and an acoustic communication and navigation system developed at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), with a new breed of AUV-Nekton Researchs Ranger/sup TM/.

Field results of multi-UUV missions using ranger micro-UUVs

The ranger micro-UUV from Nekton Research has been deployed successfully in various multi-agent mission demonstrations, including formation flying to map a salinity front and adaptive cooperation to localize the origins of test plumes. The low cost and simplicity of using the 5 kg Rangers make possible multiagent missions and algorithm testing that is beyond the economic reach of alternative UUVs. Efficiency and utility of the Ranger-UMAP multiagent system derives in part from fleet logistical interface and control software (FLICS) software created for preparation, deployment, monitoring, midmission retasking, and recovery of multiple vehicles used in cooperative missions.

MASA: a multi-AUV underwater search and data acquisition system

Nekton Research is developing a cooperative multi-AUV system. This system, multi-AUV search array (MASA), will allow 3D searches and data collection with high spatial and temporal resolution in both inshore and near-shore environments. The paper discusses MASAs design.

Development of a biological sensor bay for the Ranger AUV

Nekton Research is developing a biological sensor bay (BioBay) for use on the Ranger AUV. Transporting living biosensors on an AUV opens up new opportunities for environmental monitoring. Biological sensors provide an indication of overall water quality because organisms react to a broad variety of different pollutants. Measuring the extent to which a clam is open or closed (gape) has been shown to correlate with the presence of pollutants in the water. In order to account for intra-population statistical fluctuations, BioBay is capable of transporting 16 clams, each with a dedicated gape sensor. Through this design and research effort we have created several BioBay prototypes and assessed their impact on Rangers performance. Clam gape sensing circuitry has been designed and integrated with Rangers data logging capabilities. Open water field tests have been conducted with BioBays mounted on Ranger. Results from the BioBay design project are discussed in this report along with descriptions of the designs and details about test procedures.