HOVERING AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE: A HULL SEARCH SYSTEM IN PROCUREMENT IN THE US NAVY

摘要

The Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV), now in its third generation, was designed for the detection and identification of IEDs and limpet mines on ship hulls and is now in procurement in the US Navy under PMS-408's EOD HULS Program (Explosive Ordnance Disposal Hull Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Localization System). The paper presents the vehicle's principle of operation, describes the HAUV system, and presents results obtained during actual hull searches with test targets. In parallel to EOD HULS, ONR-funded Research and Development work is aimed at developing enhanced search capabilities in the complex areas of a ship hull with a goal to transition these capabilities to the production system as they mature. These areas of research are also presented in the paper. Finally, the paper discusses new applications that would benefit from the system's stability, small footprint, light weight, and ease of use.