As our think tank studies robotic aerial vehicles it seems that our engineers have come up with several stable platforms for UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles of various sizes.
Each time you look online and someone talks about a UAV, or rather and MAV - micro air vehicle, you generally see a picture of a small quad copter with its payload in the middle hanging down.
Sometimes it is a camera, or some type of electronic device.
Yes, this is a very stable platform, good for many uses on a smaller scale.
No, those smaller UAVs don't work so good for large-scale vehicles which need a lot of range, must carry a lot of fuel, and stay on station for long periods of time.
For the larger UAVs it seems like the global Hawk or the Predator type configuration and design is one which has been copied over and over again - again because it is a stable platform which works.
Don't we need the same thing for underwater unmanned vehicles? I believe so, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Yes, let's talk about this for a moment shall we? There is a very good research paper that was written which does shed at least some relevant information on this topic.
The report is titled; "Manning and Maintainability of Submarine Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUV) Program: A System Engineering Case Study," by Troy D.
Vandenberg, September 2010.
The paper noted; "A spin-off of the LMRS program was the Mission Reconfigurable UUV (MRUUV) program.
This program had the intent of using a common UUV body with multiple modules containing specific payloads that can be varied to run different missions, and was scheduled to enter the fleet in 2008.
One main requirement of the MRUUV was that it had to have the ability to share a common launch and recovery system with the LMRS.
Although the program had a lot of potential for completing ISR missions and creating a mission-flexible UUV, it was cancelled in 2008 due to lack of funding.
" One of the challenges with unmanned undersea vehicle platforms is that they must have a decent amount of power to overcome the tide and current.
They also need to carry their own fuel, and stay on station for long periods of time.
This is difficult because they go at such low speeds.
If they go at higher speeds they burn through all of their fuel too quickly, or they drain their batteries attempting to stay in one place, or maneuver to wherever it is they are supposed to go.
What we need is a solid platform, perhaps a morphing body that can bend and mold itself to the exact and most efficient shape to flow through the water, or to allow the water to flow around it while it stays on station.
Something which could go near the surface and recharge via solar panels might also be good, even though it is more difficult with waves splashing over blocking out the UV light.
Other strategies considered have been using the title flows, current, and ocean wave energy exploits to keep the vehicle powered for long periods of time.
If we had a stable platform which worked very well, as we do with the MAVs or micro air vehicles this would be an asset for all applications of AUVs or autonomous underwater vehicles.
It would also lower the costs, and take care of some of those challenges as well.
We need to be thinking here, and we must get the most bang for our buck and right now we really need these high-tech aquatic robotic apparatuses.
Please consider all this and think on it.