Utilizing multiple vehicles from a single work platform such as a ship is not something new and has been successfully demonstrated in the offshore industry with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Manned Submersibles for several years. However with the development and recent fruition to commercial viability of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) some traditional operational practices and constraints need to be modified or removed; as well new practices need to be implemented and tested. AUVs have been successfully used in the scientific, military, archeological, and commercial arena. They are being utilized for underwater surveying, exploration, and as general in-situ data gathering platforms. AUVs continue to prove themselves as a reliable, economic, and in many cases a more cost effective solution for a variety of projects and applications. Over the past few years a variety of operations have been successful in operating two and three AUV systems simultaneously, and using multiple AUVs and an ROV simultaneously off of one ship. The ability to use multiple vehicles at one time, and off of one platform greatly increases the efficiency, equipment redundancy, and also benefits the overall operation's performance by more efficiently utilizing expensive ship time and operational windows. With this increase in performance however new and often difficult challenges arise during the daily operations. Innovative approaches to tackling the tasks and schedules of each systems operational goals need to be understood and communicated by all parties involved. Coordination between the ship as well as the individual underwater vehicle operators, who often each work for different companies, has to be maintained continuously. Plans have to be developed, yet remain fluid enough to allow for operational variables and/or failures. This all has to be maintained continuously to ensure that the operators can run concurrent operations efficiently and safely. This presentation will discuss operations that have used multiple AUVs and ROVs simultaneously operating off of one ship while performing scientific and marine archeological surveys, and lost aircraft searches.
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