Improving usability and interoperability of autonomous and remote operated marine survey vessels

The popularity of autonomous survey vessels (ASVs) are rapidly increasing due to their low-cost, efficiency, ease of operations, and safety benefits. These systems are applied to ocean mapping survey operations that would have traditionally been completed by small, crewed vessels using either single beam or multibeam echosounder systems. To maintain the simplicity of the ASV, the remote-controlled propulsion system is often separate from the onboard sonar and positioning hardware system. This project looks to bridge the gap between the navigation, sonar, and propulsion systems by implementing low-cost and energy efficient single-board computers to capture, process and transmit data streams. The project objectives look to maintain existing system hardware but add intelligence in navigation and data processing functionality without hindering run-time and operational capability. The developed systems and implementation design will add value to low-cost ASVs by introducing line following and autopilot functionality, along with data processing, analytics, and cloud connectivity.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ian Church

Student:

Partner:

Spatialnetic Solutions Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program: