Abstract
The critical enabling technologies which have been identified to fully realize the potential of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are: long endurance propulsion/energy systems; geodetic and relative navigation; underwater communications; mission management and control; sensors and signal processing; and vehicle design. However, perhaps the most critical technology for almost every AUV application, and often the operational limiting factor, is the availability of adequate onboard energy/power. Given the specialist nature of the AUV market, research and development into new AUV-specific power systems is inevitably limited by resources. Hence, with the numerous design considerations of an AUV, full knowledge and understanding of the total air independent power system (AIPS) integration is essential, if a technically and operationally successful vehicle design is to be achieved. This paper examines the conceptual design of an AUV with specific emphasis on the integration of an air-independent powered diesel engine with respect to the power system options and subsystem equipment selection.
The ability to move through the water is perhaps the most fundamental of all marine vehicle requirements. Underwater vehicle propulsion is achieved through the conversion, transmission and utilization of energy in a sequence of events that includes the development of power in a prime mover, its transmission to the propulsive device, the development of thrust on the working surfaces of the propulsive device and the transmission of thrust to the vehicle”s structure in such a way as to move the vessel through the water. The aim of this paper is to provide the necessary design information on the prime mover, energy source and sink systems for integration of an AIPS into an AUV evaluation study. Since the prime mover is the main propulsion subsystem upon which the other units depend, it becomes the first element in the power system evaluation study.
Author:
Potter, I. J., Reader, G. T., and Hawley, J. G.
Publisher:
ISOPE International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference
Year Published:
1999
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