ADVOcean Used in NPS AUV Research

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Center for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Research, under the direction of Prof. Anthony Healey, has incorporated a SonTek ADVOcean into their research vehicle Phoenix. The Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV), fused together with Doppler velocity log (DVL) data, provides water particle velocity information to the vehicle's control systems. In addition, the ADV's installed optional compass provides a backup to the vehicle's Inertial Motion Package. The following photographs show the location of the ADVOcean on Phoenix.

Figure 1. ADVOcean on AUV Phoenix

Figure 2. Phoenix and ADVOcean

These photographs were taken just before deployment for AUVFEST `98 in Gulfport, Mississippi. The AUVFEST was sponsored by the Naval Oceanographic Office in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research. The purpose of the event was to allow researchers such as NPS's Jeff Riedel and David Marco to demonstrate various vehicle capabilities and the direction of each group's research.

During a recent deployment, NPS demonstrated their vehicle's ability to gather data to be used for wave directional spectrum estimates. ADV data, integrated with DVL and vehicle motion data, are used to provide water particle velocity information. By integrating ADV, DVL, and vehicle motion information, the only correction that must be made to the data is to account for the Doppler shift or encounter frequency associated with the moving vehicle. This correction is made recursively during post-processing. The survey data below show the directional energy density plot (Figure 3) and wave directional spectrum estimates (Figure 4) after post-processing.

Figure 3. Directional Energy Density Plot

Figure 4. Wave Directional Spectrum Estimates

• For more information about NPS AUV research, go to:
  www.cs.nps.navy.mil/research/auv.
• Details about this SonTek/YSI product can be found at:
  ADVOcean