scholarly journals Sensors to Increase the Security of Underwater Communication Cables: A Review of Underwater Monitoring Sensors

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Eleftherakis ◽  
Raul Vicen-Bueno
Keyword(s):  
Operational Research ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Sensitive Information ◽  
Underwater Communication ◽  
Unmanned Surface Vehicles ◽  
Water Depths

Underwater communication cables transport large amounts of sensitive information between countries. This fact converts these cables into a critical infrastructure that must be protected. Monitoring the underwater cable environment is rare and any intervention is usually driven by cable faults. In the last few years, several reports raised issues about possible future malicious attacks on such cables. The main objective of this operational research and analysis (ORA) paper is to present an overview of different commercial and already available marine sensor technologies (acoustic, optic, magnetic and oceanographic) that could be used for autonomous monitoring of the underwater cable environment. These sensors could be mounted on different autonomous platforms, such as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This paper analyses a multi-threat sabotage scenario where surveying a transatlantic cable of 13,000 km, (reaching water depths up to 4000 m) is necessary. The potential underwater threats identified for such a scenario are: divers, anchors, fishing trawls, submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and AUVs. The paper discusses the capabilities of the identified sensors to detect such identified threats for the scenario under study. It also presents ideas on the construction of periodic and permanent surveillance networks. Research study and results are focused on providing useful information to decision-makers in charge of designing surveillance capabilities to secure underwater communication cables.

scholarly journals Wireless Remote Control for Underwater Vehicles

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 736
Author(s):  
Filippo Campagnaro ◽  
Alberto Signori ◽  
Michele Zorzi
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Communication Link ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Underwater Sensor Networks ◽  
Navigation Systems ◽  
Underwater Communication ◽  
Commercial Off The Shelf ◽  
The Stability ◽  
New Applications

Nowadays, the increasing availability of commercial off-the-shelf underwater acoustic and non-acoustic (e.g., optical and electromagnetic) modems that can be employed for both short-range broadband and long-range low-rate communication, the increasing level of autonomy of underwater vehicles, and the refinement of their underwater navigation systems pave the way for several new applications, such as data muling from underwater sensor networks and the transmission of real-time video streams underwater. In addition, these new developments inspired many companies to start designing hybrid wireless-driven underwater vehicles specifically tailored for off-shore operations and that are able to behave either as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) or as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), depending on both the type of mission they are required to perform and the limitations imposed by underwater communication channels. In this paper, we evaluate the actual quality of service (QoS) achievable with an underwater wireless-piloted vehicle, addressing the realistic aspects found in the underwater domain, first reviewing the current state-of-the-art of communication technologies and then proposing the list of application streams needed for control of the underwater vehicle, grouping them in different working modes according to the level of autonomy required by the off-shore mission. The proposed system is finally evaluated by employing the DESERT Underwater simulation framework by specifically analyzing the QoS that can be provided to each application stream when using a multimodal underwater communication system specifically designed to support different traffic-based QoSs. Both the analysis and the results show that changes in the underwater environment have a strong impact on the range and on the stability of the communication link.

scholarly journals Underwater Docking Approach and Homing to Enable Persistent Operation

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Page ◽  
Reeve Lambert ◽  
Jalil Chavez‐Galaviz ◽  
Nina Mahmoudian
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Testing ◽  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Underwater Communication ◽  
Energy Sustainability ◽  
Underwater Docking ◽  
Docking Approach ◽  
Vehicle Position ◽  
Ocean Environment

One of the main limiting factors in deployment of marine robots is the issue of energy sustainability. This is particularly challenging for traditional propeller-driven autonomous underwater vehicles which operate using energy intensive thrusters. One emerging technology to enable persistent performance is the use of autonomous recharging and retasking through underwater docking stations. This paper presents an integrated navigational algorithm to facilitate reliable underwater docking of autonomous underwater vehicles. Specifically, the algorithm dynamically re-plans Dubins paths to create an efficient trajectory from the current vehicle position through approach into terminal homing. The path is followed using integral line of sight control until handoff to the terminal homing method. A light tracking algorithm drives the vehicle from the handoff location into the dock. In experimental testing using an Oceanserver Iver3 and Bluefin SandShark, the approach phase reached the target handoff within 2 m in 48 of 48 tests. The terminal homing phase was capable of handling up to 5 m offsets with approximately 70% accuracy (12 of 17 tests). In the event of failed docking, a Dubins path is generated to efficiently drive the vehicle to re-attempt docking. The vehicle should be able to successfully dock in the majority of foreseeable scenarios when re-attempts are considered. This method, when combined with recent work on docking station design, intelligent cooperative path planning, underwater communication, and underwater power transfer, will enable true persistent undersea operation in the extremely dynamic ocean environment.

High Resolution Seabed Sub-Bottom Profiler for AUV

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfrid Merlin ◽  
Darrell Mouland ◽  
William Markuske ◽  
Peter King ◽  
Ron Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Concept Design ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Airplane Wing ◽  
Exciting Area ◽  
Memorial University Of Newfoundland ◽  
Water Depths

Memorial University of Newfoundland (Memorial) is undertaking a novel and exciting area of interdisciplinary research and development related to Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). AUVs are an untethered, unmanned technology that enables a broad array of research, especially in hazardous underwater environments, that cannot be achieved by other means. In spring 2010, Memorial University commenced design work on a project that aims to provide a means to conduct high-resolution sub-bottom seabed surveys in water depths up to 1000 m (3281 ft), using a new imaging sub-bottom profiler technology with a 10 cm (3.9 in) resolution that has never been deployed on an AUV. The purpose of this project is to integrate a long-array sub-bottom profiler developed by PanGeo Subsea Inc. of Canada, into Memorial’s Explorer AUV by building a new vehicle section that resembles a thick airplane wing with a span of 3.5 m (11.5 ft). Memorial University is working to make the new equipment easily adaptable and removable from the Explorer AUV while in operation. The Explorer AUV equipped with this new sub-bottom profiler capability will be operational in 2012. In this paper, the underlying design criteria and challenges are discussed. A preliminary concept design is described and coarsely evaluated for technical feasibility.

Unmanned Maritime Vehicles: Technology Evolution and Implications

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 72-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Y. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Remotely Operated Vehicles ◽  
Technology Evolution ◽  
Unmanned Surface Vehicles ◽  
User Adoption ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Business Analysis ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis paper reviews the technological advances of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) since 2008, evolution of gliders and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and the roles, designs, and capabilities of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). It describes the uses for those vehicles, how they have evolved and gained trusting users, and how they converge in complementary roles. Predictions for the evolution of unmanned maritime vehicles’ (UMVs) roles and operations are made. The paper is broad in scope and looks beyond the technology in an attempt to explain the relationship between technology evolution and user adoption. The research and findings stem from years of technical and business analysis, reports, interviews, and assistance to stakeholders of the unmanned maritime systems (UMS) industry by the author.

scholarly journals Simulation model for energy consumption and acoustic underwater communication of autonomous underwater vehicles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Danielis ◽  
Helge Parzyjegla ◽  
Mostafa Assem Mohamed Ali ◽  
Frank Sill Torres
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Simulation Model ◽  
Acoustic Communication ◽  
Acoustic Waves ◽  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Underwater Acoustic Communication ◽  
Network Simulator ◽  
Underwater Communication ◽  
Underwater Acoustic

AbstractRecently, cooperative autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have been deployed in application areas such as surveillance and protection of maritime infrastructures for inspection and monitoring purposes. These cooperative methodologies require wireless transmission of data between the different AUVs operating in the underwater environment. Communication over ranges exceeding 100 m exclusively relies on underwater acoustic communication. However, the propagating acoustic waves suffer from several challenges due to the presence of path loss, multi-path propagation, the slow and variant propagation speed, background noise, and Doppler distortion. Since the power supply of the AUVs is limited, communication must be very energy efficient and energy constraints have to be known to be able to plan the mission of AUVs. Due to the difficulties of real experiments, the modeling and simulation of the energy consumption and underwater acoustic communication play an essential role in studying and developing these systems. We provide a modular simulation model for the energy consumption and acoustic underwater communication of AUVs implemented in the network simulator OMNeT++ using the INET framework. More specifically, we extend several INET modules in such a way as to reflect the characteristics of AUVs and underwater communication. We study and analyze the AUVs’ energy consumption and dependence of the message quality on different properties such as those mentioned above.

A method for autonomous collision-free navigation of a quadrotor UAV in unknown tunnel-like environments

Robotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Taha Elmokadem ◽  
Andrey V. Savkin
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Challenging Problem ◽  
Quadrotor Uav ◽  
Navigation Algorithm ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Quadrotor Uavs

Abstract Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become essential tools for exploring, mapping and inspection of unknown three-dimensional (3D) tunnel-like environments which is a very challenging problem. A computationally light navigation algorithm is developed in this paper for quadrotor UAVs to autonomously guide the vehicle through such environments. It uses sensors observations to safely guide the UAV along the tunnel axis while avoiding collisions with its walls. The approach is evaluated using several computer simulations with realistic sensing models and practical implementation with a quadrotor UAV. The proposed method is also applicable to other UAV types and autonomous underwater vehicles.

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