Towards low cost, deep water AUV optical mapping

Abstract

The high cost associated with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) capable of operating beyond the mesopelagic ocean zone has prevented the extensive study of the deep ocean. Consequently, little is known about these regions deeper than 1000 m. However, science drivers like climate change, commercial applications like deep sea fisheries and underwater mining are pushing the need to know more about such areas. In this paper we present the development and design of an open source, low cost, autonomous underwater vehicle for optical mapping of the deep sea. With a length of under 1 m and a weight of approximately 20 kg it can operate in depths of up to 6000 m. The AUV has been designed making use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts and it is intended to be easily assembled without the need of complex tools. The vehicle has a total materials cost of under $30; 000 and we are distributing open source design files. We believe such a platform has the ability to increase deep ocean access to a broader community of researchers and engineers by lessing cost constraints.