Intelligent Docking of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV)
Student: Oscar Berglund
Chair: Gloria J. Wiens
Cochair: Norman G. Fitz-Coy
Major Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Cochair:Prof. Soren Andersson, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, Sweden, Machine Design
The research investigates several designs for intelligent (autonomous) docking of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV). UUVs, such as the ones shown below, are used to survey, offshore exploration, mapping, vessel traffic control, mine sweeping, port security, wreck investigation, and for fishing applications.
In order to transfer data and upload new programs to the UUVs, they must have some kind of docking station. Traditional docking is done in one of two ways, dry docking or underwater docking. In dry docking, the UUV is retrieved from the water. This process is both expensive and time consuming and delays can occur due to poor weather conditions. Underwater docking is the best solution as it allows for continuous operation of the UUV. The challenges for underwater docking include designing a docking station that can accept many different shapes and sizes of UUVs and it must operate in a harsh, unpredictable underwater environment. The goal of this project is to develop underwater docking stations that meet these challenges.
Pictures of dry and underwater docking.