SEAWOLF: THE DEVELOPMENT STATUS OF A MEDIUM SIZED HAUV

摘要

The SeaWolf is beside the UUVs SeaFox and SeaOtter one of the core vehicles of the ATLAS UUV family. It is an HAUV (Hybrid Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) which can be used completely autonomous (AUV) or, equipped with a broadband fibre-optic cable connection to the surface, as an ROV respective as a semi AUV. Such a connection permits both, a total human control of the vehicle or solely an online data transfer from the vehicle to the control station and vice versa.The system is based on its general design philosophy on the small and very successful underwater vehicle SeaFox, which is sold over 2000 times.An outstanding SeaWolf characteristic is its ability to operate alone or in a team whereas its autonomy varies from fully autonomous, i.e. independently of the other team members, to an absolute dependency, i.e. under complete control of one or more team members. The level of the so called Adaptive Autonomy depends thereby on the mission complexity for the team or for the individual member.The SeaWolf is medium sized with 2m length and 50cm maximum diameter. Its weight is between 100kg and 110kg with 30kg payload included. The payload can be a customer specific configurationand will be integrated into the vehicle by plug and play.The quality of the navigation system is selectable by the customer as well. It reaches from a simple TCM based unit up to a DVL and GPS supported high performance inertial measurement unit.The vehicle's maximum speed is 8kts and with the aid of 5 propulsion devices, not only operating in current but also a high manoeuvrability is guaranteed.The SeaWolf is designed for 300m diving depth, with an option for 600m. Its application scope extends from of all kinds of underwater inspection and monitoring, over scientific applications up to the use in the security area.The paper shows the Sea Wolf involvement in the UUV family, deals with the used technologies and shows selected applications from the maritime security domain.