The Hawaiian Autonomous Undersea Robot

By Roland Piquepaille

After several years of research, engineers from the University of Hawaii are now testing the first autonomous robotic vehicle for deep-ocean work in the U.S. This robot is called SAUVIM, short for Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention Missions. It's roughly the size of an SUV and it is designed to operate to a depth of about 4 miles. With its computers, its sensors, and a 5-foot, 150-pound autonomous manipulator, or robotic arm, it will be able to move towards a specific target, such as a wrecked pipe laying on the ocean floor -- and maybe fix it. Right now, this robot has an autonomy of about eight hours, but this range should soon be extended when the researchers move from batteries to fuel cells to power the undersea vehicle.

Here is the introduction of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin article, which shows that it's not always easy to move from a lab to real life.

A sensor failed to work, causing a glitch in the performance of the group's Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention during a demonstration Friday at the UH Marine Center at Snug Harbor, Sand Island. But industry and Navy research officials were enthusiastic about the unique vehicle's potential.

This project has received about $12 million from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) since 1997 and is led by Song K. Choi, who leads the Autonomous Systems Laboratory at the Center for Underwater Robotic Technology (CURT).

Song Choi also founded the Marine Autonomous Systems Engineering to commercialize this robotic undersea vehicle (web site 'under construction').

But now, it's time to look at some images of the SAUVIM -- by the way, how did these researchers find such an unappealing name?

	First, here is a side view of the SAUVIM in its hangar (Credit: University of Hawaii).
	And here is SAUVIM when plunged into the water (Credit: University of Hawaii).
	Finally, here is a rendering of the SAUVIM's robotic arm (Credit: University of Hawaii).

For more information, here are two links to the SAUVIM project page and to a short simulation movie from 2003 (41 seconds, 7.65 MB)

Now, what kind of help can we expect from this autonomous robot?

Choi said there is no underwater vehicle with the capabilities of the semiautonomous underwater vehicle. "We'd be the first ones to do it."

Choi said 99 percent of the vehicle's system is autonomous, with 1 percent semiautonomous for a communications link for safety. A signal could be sent to the vehicle to stop and return if necessary, he said.

It will be able to go to a target automatically, and the arm will deploy to do a task with no humans involved, Choi said. "The ultimate goal is to leave it in the water, and it will come back when the batteries are down. Safety-wise, it can't get better."

Future versions of this autonomous undersea robots should be able to work continuously for several days when batteries are replaced by fuel cells.

Sources: Helen Altonn, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Hawaii, July 19, 2005; and various web sites

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• Engineering
  
• Military Applications
  
• Robotics
  
• Sensors