Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) are unmanned submersibles with the special feature of independence and intelligence. This feature has helped it become widely used. These underwater robots are capable of travelling on a predetermined course and can decide when faced with different conditions such as encountering an obstacle. The most important applications of AUVs are in the offshore industry, the military and research. These robots use complex technology to perform in fields such as hydrodynamics, control, steering, navigation, communications and energy.
Here are some of their applications :
- Detecting underwater mines
- The survey and mapping of the platforms
- Inspecting structures and marine platforms
- The inspection of oil and gas pipe lines on the ocean floor
- Discovering underwater objects
General Structure of the AUV can be divided into the following parts :
- Body with the capability of supporting additional parts power unit
- Sensoring hardware unit
- Control unit
- Tail and Propulsion