Session: 05-04-01 CCUS and Underwater Development/ Utilization I

Submission Number: 177791

Initial Study on an AUV Automatic Launch and Recovery Device Mounted on an Unmanned Seaplane 

Marine surveys using marine robots, including autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), has often been conducted with the support of manned vessels. Recent advances in marine robotics technology have raised expectations for AUVs’ use in tasks such as undersea cable surveys. Marine surveys using AUVs generally requires onshore preparation, transportation to the sea area, launch in the survey area, AUV survey, recovery, return to the base, and follow-up maintenance. On-site human support is often required for stages other than the survey.

One efficient way to operate AUVs is through automation. While automating launch is relatively easy, automating recovery is challenging. Research into the recovery process has progressed, including the development of a method for automatically docking an AUV with a docking station suspended from a ship.

As a new ocean observation system, we are developing a "KAIKU" that uses unmanned seaplanes to automatically transport the AUV to the sea area, launch the AUV, conduct observations, and recover it. One of the challenges is automatic AUV recovery. There are several methods for recovery an AUV from a manned vessel. We investigated an automatic recovery method suitable for “KAIKU”. As a method suitable for a seaplane, we decided to suspend a rope from the seaplane, guide the AUV to hook the rope, and then reel it in for recovery. We considered several methods for reeling in a rope to recover the AUV into a seaplane, and conducted tank tests. We devised the slide with side guide method as one of these methods. We called it “the guide slope method”. We present the results of our investigation.

Presenting Author: Tatsuya Fukuda JAMSTEC

Presenting Author Biography: 2009: Joined JAMSTEC, worked on the development of ocean observation buoys and ASVs
2024: Worked on the development of Auto Launch and Recovery System

Authors:

Tatsuya Fukuda JAMSTEC
Tadahiro Hyakudome JAMSTEC
Tomoya Inoue JAMSTEC