Autonomous Bathymetric Surveying

• Main Authors: Bourgeois, Brian, Harris, M., Alleman, Pete, Cheramie, Jaml, Gravley, John
• Other Authors: NAVAL RESEARCH LAB STENNIS SPACE CENTER MS ADVANCED SENSOR AND SURVEY SECTION
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1997
• Subjects: Submarine Engineering; *SYMPOSIA; *SUBMERSIBLES; OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA; BATHYMETRY; SURVEYS; GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM; AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION; MINE HUNTING; MULTIPLE BEAMS(RADIATION); SEA TESTING; *AUTONOMOUS SUBMERSIBLES; SENSOR SYSTEM PARAMETERS; PE63207N; Orca
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA337432; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA337432

This paper discusses an initial implementation of sensor performance based survey control using a multi-beam bathymetric system. The goal of this work is the automation of survey navigation and sensor control utilizing actual vice predicted response of the survey system. The implementation of the techniques discussed in this paper utilized the Naval Research Laboratory's ORCA vessel, a semiautonomous air breathing submersible vessel. The approaches attempted are discussed and results from the first at sea test of these techniques are presented. During the at sea test data from the multi-beam bathymetry system was processed and griddle in real-time, and this data was then utilized to generate the next navigation track-line for the defined survey area. Sensor performance based control, even with a relatively simple implementation, was seen to compensate extremely well for actual data coverage. Presented at 10th International Symposium on Unmanned Untethered Submersible Technology, 7-10 Sep 97, New Hampshire Univ., Durham, NH