.png)
Strengthening the AUV Community
AUVAC brings together academic, private
sector, and government organizations in support of Autonomous Undersea
Vehicles (AUVs), in order to advance AUV system
technology, promote AUV interoperability, and increase AUV availability
in support of national ocean community needs.
This website is brand new, and is an effort to encourage
collaboration within the AUV
community, from the point of view
of both users and research & technology developers.
The content at this time is being updated as new information
is obtained from people involved in the community.
We encourage you to suggest information to include
within the website and to become more involved in the effort to expand
awareness to potential users as well as sharing questions and
results.
AUVAC is a program of the Autonomous Undersea
Systems Institute.
More Information »
Symposium: Launch & Recovery of Manned & Unmanned Vehicles from Marine Platforms 2010 Symposium
April 8-9, 2010
8-9 March 2010
Linthicum, Maryland (Baltimore / Washington Corridor)
American Society of Naval Engineers
Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies (MITAGS)
The 2010 Launch and Recovery Conference of Manned and Unmanned Vehicles from Marine Platforms represents a unique opportunity to also include the vehicles themselves in the discussion and the special interfaces that must exist between the vehicle and the platform. Unmanned vehicles are increasingly integrated into the day-to-day operations of naval and commercial maritime operations, from ocean platform inspection, to search-and-rescue, to surface and antisubmarine warfare. At the same time, the use of small manned vehicles is also on the rise, whether high-speed boats on Coast Guard ships or helicopters on research vessels. The need to operate both manned and unmanned vehicles from the same platform is of increasing importance, and so are the means to quickly and safely launch and recover a wide variety of such vehicles – which are evolving at a rapid pace – is an area of intense research and development in national and international naval, commercial and academic sectors.
Symposium: 9Th International Symposium on Technology and the Mine Problem
May 17-20, 2010
May 17-20, 2010, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California
Themes of the conference will address technologies related to mine detection, localzation and neutralization, for applications in mine warfare relating to both port security at home and assured access abroad. Special emphasis will be placed on technologies relating to the use of unmanned systems role in the mine problem.
Areas of particular technological interest for unmanned sysyems include:
- Propulsion energy
- Launch and Recovery
- Autonomy and communications
- Sensors
- Navigation, guidance, and control
Community News
Unmanned Priority
April 3, 2010 — via Seapower Magazine
QDR recommends more funding for Navy to develop new systems, vehicles for surface, underwater missions
Slow Progress
While the Navy sees unmanned craft as critical to future operations, efforts to develop an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) have fallen short.
Decades of research have yielded highly capable sensors, but shortcomings in technology and reliability have hampered development of a UUV to carry them.
Cost growth and size limitations also have been program inhibitors.
The Navy established the UUV Advanced Development Office to direct “experimentation and technology maturation.”CEOE signs agreement with offshore survey company UTEC
March 10, 2010 — via University of Delaware UDaily
The University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (CEOE) and offshore survey company UTEC Survey have signed an agreement that outlines cooperative efforts in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) research. Art Trembanis, assistant professor of geological sciences, said that he and his team will provide the company with training and use of UD's AUV, a torpedo-shaped device that swims untethered through the water collecting data. The device will assist with UTEC's efforts to map the ocean floor in support of a range of projects around the world.
Woods Hole robot lost at sea
March 10, 2010 — via Cape Cod Times
ABE was lost on March 5 during an expedition off the coast of Chile, WHOI officials said. Researchers had just dispatched ABE for its second dive to the Chile Triple Junction, which is the only place on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge is being pushed underneath a continent in a deep ocean trench, a geologic process known as subduction.
Pioneering Deep-Sea Robot Lost at Sea
March 9, 2010 — via Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
A pioneering deep-sea exploration robot-one of the first successful submersible vehicles that was both unmanned and untethered to surface ships-was lost at sea Friday, March 5, on a research expedition off the coast of Chile. The 15-year-old Autonomous Benthic Explorer, affectionately nicknamed ABE, was launched late Thursday night and had reached the seafloor to begin its 222nd research dive when, in the early hours of Friday morning, all contact with the surface vessel abruptly ceased. All efforts to reestablish contact failed.
Increased Exposure
For vehicle manufacturers
AUVAC maintains a database of AUV system and subsystem technologies in order to match prospective customers with the equipment they need most: yours.
A Centralized Resource
For AUV users
From start to finish, AUVAC's members can help make your AUV mission a success. We bring together organizations involved in systems, integration, logistics, support, and analysis.
Information Sharing
For the AUV Community
AUVAC encourages communication between academic, private, and government organizations in order to increase the interoperability of systems and sensors.