Underwater Robotics: Development and Field Trials of the Nereus Hybrid Underwater Robotic Vehicle for Oceanographic Science to 11,000 M Depth

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Underwater Robotics: Development and Field Trials of the Nereus Hybrid Underwater Robotic Vehicle for Oceanographic Science to 11,000 m Depth

Louis L. Whitcomb, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science Director, Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics Johns Hopkins University

Andrew Bowen Dana R. Yoerger, Ph.D. Principal Engineer Senior Scientist Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

• Mr. Andy Bowen Principal Investigator WHOI • Dr. Louis Whitcomb Co-Principal Investigator JHU/WHOI • Dr. Dana Yoerger Co-Principal Investigator WHOI • Mr. Jonathan Howland Lighting and Imaging WHOI • Mr. Chris Taylor Overall Electrical System Design WHOI • Mr. Don Peters Overall Mechanical System Design WHOI • Dr. Michael Jakuba Flight Control JHU • Dr. Sarah Webster Acoustic Communication and Navigation JHU • Mr. Matt Heintz Manipulator WHOI • Mr. Daniel Gomez-Ibanez Propulsion and Energy Storage WHOI • Mr. Chris Young Fiber Optic Tether SPAWAR • Dr. Stephen Martin Mission Control JHU • Ms. Barbara Fletcher Project Manager SPAWAR • Mr. James Buescher Fiber Optic Tether SPAWAR • Dr. James Kinsey Navigation JHU/WOI • Mr. Jerry Stachiw Ceramics Consultant • +15-30 engineering and technical staff as required.

• National Science Foundation under award OCE-0334411 • Office of Naval Research under N0001409WX20051 • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under award NA04OAR4300168 • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Russell Family Foundation The World’s Oceans Area: 361,000,000 km2 (71% of earth surface)

Depth What

~50m Sport diver (scuba) ~100m Professional diver (mixed gas) ~300m Professional diver (saturation) 1,000m Nuclear submarine 3,730m Average ocean depth 4,500m Deepest US submarine - DSV Alvin 6,000m ~97% of ocean floor shallower than this 6,500m Deepest US robot vehicle – Jason 2 6,500m Deepest operational submarine Shinkai 6,500 (Japan) 7,000m Deepest operational vehicle (pre-Nereus) 11,000m Deepest ocean depth

Pressure at 11,000m depth is 1,100 atmospheres

Animation: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO Traditional Methods for Deep Ocean Oceanography

Trawl net for fish and invertebrate studies. Chief Bosun Bruce Cowden aboard the R.V. Ronald H. Broawn in Astoria Canyon, Pacific Ocean (2001).

Bottom Trawling: H.M.S. Challenger Expedition (1873-1876). Image Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration Program. Image Credit: Sir C. Wyville Thompson, Voyage of the Challenger. (1877); Deep Ocean Oceanography: The D.S.V. Alvin 4500m Submersible Image Catenach © WHOI Rod Image Credit:

Crew: 3 = 1 pilot + 2 scientist Depth: 4500m Endurance: 6-10 Hours Speed: 1 m/s Mass: 7,000 Kg Length: 7.1m Power: 81 KWH Life Support: 72 Hours x 3 Persons Ph.D. Student James Kinsey Dives: 4,600 (since 1964) Passengers: 12,000 (since 1964) Jason II ROV

Specifications: Size: 3.2 x 2.4 x 2.2 m Weight 3,300 kg Depth 6,500 m Power 40 kW (50 Hp) Payload: 120 Kg (1.5 Ton) Thrust: 250 Kg First Dive: 2002 Dives: 306 Bottom Time: 3854 Hours* Longest Dive: 100.5 Hours* Deepest Dive: 6,502 m* Distance: 2,706 km* * As of Nov 1, 2008 Electric thrusters, twin hydraulic manipulator arms. Dynamically Main Steel Cable Positioned Mother 6000 m x 17mm Ship 400 Hz 3Φ at 20kVa 3 single mode fibers

MEDEA 500 kg depressor weight

50m Kevlar Cable Power & Fiber-Optics

JASON 1200kg robot vehicle The Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE)

Vent discoveries in the Lau Basin (near Fiji), Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Southwest Indian Ridge. (German, Yoerger, et al, 2004)

Kurile Trench

Japan Trench

Izu-Ogasawara Trench

Phillippine Sea Plate Pacific Plate

Mariana Trench Oceanic Trenches: Subduction Zones

Fluids squeezed out of the subducting plate and ground up rock fragments are brought from depths as great as 30 km Mt. Everest

Mariana Trench

HROV

R. V. Yokoska Nereus Vehicle Design

Untethered AUV Mode Tethered ROV Mode • 2625 kg • 2920 kg • 1472 ceramic spheres • 1680 ceramic spheres • 30 kg (wet wt) payload • 30 kg (wet wt) payload Nereus Vehicle Design

Untethered AUV Mode Tethered ROV Mode • 2625 kg • 2920 kg • 1472 ceramic spheres • 1680 ceramic spheres • 30 kg (wet wt) payload • 30 kg (wet wt) payload The Nereus Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle Arctic Ocean: HROV Technology Can Enable Survey and Sampling Operations Under Moving Ice New Technologies Enabling the Nereus System Design

Low Power Low Power Ceramic Buoyancy High Quality Imaging/Lighting Capable Manipulators and Pressure Housings

Micro-Fiber Tether System

Energy Storage HROV Fiber Optic Tether

250 µm Polymer Buffer 125 µm Optical Fiber

Human Hair

Optical Fiber

20 km fiber spool Light Fibre Tether Concept

.680 E-O cable • High bandwidth (GigE) Depressor communications • Unconstrained by surface Fibre (up to 40 km) ship • Operable from non-DP Float pack vessels 50 m secondary

Vehicle Fiber Tether Simulation

Mission Parameters:

• 0.25mm diameter Fiber

• Vehicle descends at 18 m/min to seaf loor 2000m below depressor and maneuvers on sea floor.

• Fiber remains aloft in water column for 16 hours.

• Currents: Uniform 8cm/sec.

• Tether Drag Model: – CDn = 1.5 – CDt = 0.7 / Re Main Electronics and Battery Housings

Mechanical Characteristics

Ceramic/Grade 5 titanium construction

Titanium hemispherical endcap

Ceramic/Titanium Design: 90 lbs air weight 135 lbs buoyant water weight

Comparable All-Titanium Design: 300 lbs air weight 80 lbs water weight Ceramic Pressure Housings Seamless 3.6” Ceramic Buoyancy Spheres Deep Sea Power and Light, San Diego, CA

Ceramic Sphere Technical Specifications

• Material: Alumina Al2O3 • OD 9.14cm +/- 0.13cm (3.6in +/- .050in) • Wall thickness 1.5mm (0.060”) • Weight 140g +/- 1g (4.94oz +/- 0.04oz) • Net Buoyancy 290g (10.23oz) • Specific Gravity 0.32 • Pressure tested to 30,000 PSI Ceramic Buoyancy Spheres 18 kWh Battery System

• General Specifications – 18 KWh total capacity – 50 volt buss, 3KW charge/discharge – 270 lbs weight • Pack – 3.6 V, 96 Wh, 600 g – safety tested, air shippable • Balancer – Combines 28 packs into a string, provides safety features and fuel gauge • Chassis – 1/8” cored carbon fiber construction, 2x 150 lb assemblies • Charger – Rack mounted COTS power supplies, 4200 W output, 6 hour charge to 90% LED Lighting Characteristics

• Ability to strobe up to 30Hz - variable pulse length • High electrical to optical conversion efficiency • Pressure tolerant design • Ability to create a spatially flat illumination field to match the camera field of view • Discrete color for best “effective transmission” through water AUV Configuration Flight Modes

Pitching Flight Level Flight

Vectored Thrust

Foils-Fixed Hover

Whitcomb, L.L.; Jakuba, M.V.; Kinsey, J.C.; Martin, S.C.; Webster, S.E.; Howland, J.C.; Taylor, C.L.; Gomez-Ibanez, D.; Yoerger, D.R.; , Navigation and control of the Nereus hybrid underwater vehicle for global ocean science to 10,903 m depth: Preliminary results, In Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol., no., pp.594-600, 3-7 May 2010. 2007 Field Trials Results

Automatic mode switch Automatic mode switch

5m Altitude Above Sea Floor

Sea Floor Doppler/USBL/OWTT Navigation

GPS

Ship

Depressor

Beacon

Ship Vehicle

550 m Nereus 2009 Mariana Expedition

Andrew D. Bowen, Dana R. Yoerger, Chris Taylor, Robert McCabe, Jonathan Howland, Daniel Gomez- Ibanez, James C. Kinsey, Matthew Heintz, Glenn McDonald, Donald B. Peters, John Bailey, Eleanor Bohrs, Tomothy Shank, Louis L. Whitcomb, Stephen C. Martin, Sarah E. Webster, Michael V. Jakuba, Barbara Fletcher, Chris Young, James Buescher, Patricia Fryer, and Samuel Hulme. Field trials of the Nereus hybrid underwater robotic vehicle in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. In Proceedings of IEEE/MTS Oceans 2009, Biloxi MS, October 26-29, 2009. Mobilization on R/V Kilo Moana Nereus 2009 Mariana Expedition

Dive 008: 3500 m Dive 009: 6500 m 12N58.80 145E11.75 13N12.00 146E00.00 Dive 007: 880 m (mud volcano) 13N36.75 144E43.00

146 145 144 Dive 010: 9050 m 14 143 12N59.50 146E00.00 13 142 Dive 011: 10900 m Dive 015: 3000 m 11N22.10 142E35.48 12N42.00 143E31.1250 141Dives 012 and 014: 10900 m Toto Seamount 11 11N19.59 142E12.99 HROV Installation on RV Kilo Moana ROV Mode floatation High-res digital camera

LED lights Task cameras Manipulator arm

Tool Sled Vertical thruster Nereus Control Room Nereus Dive 11 to 10,903 m Depth Nereus Sampling Nereus Sampling Dive Statistics

Dive Depth (m) Duration (hr) Distance (m) Termination 007ROV 911 8.4 1045 Deliberate 008ROV 3511 11.1 670 Aborted (oil leak) 009ROV 6430 13.8 70 Fiber severed (bottom) 010ROV 9039 18.5 1160 Deliberate 011ROV 10902 27.8 2835 Deliberate 012ROV 10899 19.3 735 Fiber severed (bottom) 014ROV 10176 14.1 0 Fiber severed (descent) 015ROV 2963 11.6 1560 Deliberate Total: 8 Nereus Sea Trials 2009 Cayman Trough Expedition Oases for Life and Pre-Biotic Chemistry: Hydrothermal Exploration using Advanced Underwater Robotics Chris German (PI), Cindy Van Dover, Julie Huber, Jeff Seewald, Max Coleman, Louis L. Whitcomb, Dana Yoerger and Andy Bowen • NASA ASTEP funded expedition to both discover hydrothermal vents and help develop the methodologies necessary for astrobiological exploration on other planets. • 5 week expedition off of a 140’ non-DP vessel • AUV and ROV operations at depths up to 5000m Cayman Trough 2009

Spreading axis Atlantic Equatorial Belt Three-Phase Survey Strategy to Discover Hydrothermal Vents

Vent discoveries in the Lau Basin (near Fiji), Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Southwest Indian Ridge. (German, Yoerger, et al, 2004) 2009 Cayman Trough Expedition – AUV Mode

• 20+ hour survey for hydrothermal vent plumes at 4300m depth. 700m height off bottom • Used combined model velocity and gyrocompass subsea nav solution • WHOI umodem and Sonardyne USBL provided acoustic telemetry • Transmitted science data enabled retasking of vehicle and in-situ testing of new autonomy algorithms

Nereus 022: Nereus 021: Sept 25-26, 2009 Sept 24-25, 2009 2009 Cayman Trough Expedition – ROV Mode

1 km

• Conducted 10+ hour ROV dive with Nereus over 2km from support vessel for most of the dive. Telemetry provided by micro-fiber tether. Vehicle altitude 0-300m 2009 Cayman Trough Expedition: Hydrothermal Exploration of the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center C.R. German et al. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010 107 (32) 14020-14025; July 21, 2010 Nereus References

1. C. R. German, A. Bowen, M. L. Coleman, D. L. Honig, J. A. Huber, M. V. Jakuba, J. C. Kinsey, M. D. Kurz, S. Leroy, J. M. McDermott, B. Mercier de Lépinay, K. Nakamura, J. S. Seewald, J. L. Smith, S. P. Sylva, C. L. Van Dover, L. L. Whitcomb, D. R. Yoerger, Diverse styles of submarine venting on the ultraslow spreading Mid-Cayman Rise, In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010 107 (32) 14020-14025; July 21, 2010, doi:10.1073/pnas.1009205107. http://www.pnas.org/content/107/32/14020.full 2. Whitcomb, L.L.; Jakuba, M.V.; Kinsey, J.C.; Martin, S.C.; Webster, S.E.; Howland, J.C.; Taylor, C.L.; Gomez-Ibanez, D.; Yoerger, D.R.; , "Navigation and control of the Nereus hybrid underwater vehicle for global ocean science to 10,903 m depth: Preliminary results," In Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation , vol., no., pp.594-600, 3-7 May 2010. https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/lwhitco1/papers/2010_ICRA_Nereus.pdf 3. Living where the sun don't shine: A Caribbean cruise may unlock one of biology’s oldest secrets—both on Earth and elsewhere in the universe, The Economist, October 8, 2009. http://www.economist.com/node/14585735 4. Andrew D. Bowen, Dana R. Yoerger, Chris Taylor, Robert McCabe, Jonathan Howland, Daniel Gomez-Ibanez, James C. Kinsey, Matthew Heintz, Glenn McDonald, Donald B. Peters, John Bailey, Eleanor Bohrs, Tomothy Shank, Louis L. Whitcomb, Stephen C. Martin, Sarah E. Webster, Michael V. Jakuba, Barbara Fletcher, Chris Young, James Buescher, Patricia Fryer, and Samuel Hulme. Field trials of the Nereus hybrid underwater robotic vehicle in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. In Proceedings of IEEE/MTS Oceans 2009, Biloxi MS, October 26-29, 2009. https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/lwhitco1/papers/2009_Oceans_Nereus.pdf 5. Sandipa Singh, Sarah E. Webster, Lee Freitag, Louis L. Whitcomb, Keenan Ball, John Bailey, Chris Taylor. Acoustic communication performance in sea trials of the Nereus vehicle to 11,000 m depth. In Proceedings of IEEE/MTS Oceans 2009, Biloxi MS, October 26-29, 2009. https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/lwhitco1/papers/2009_Oceans_Nereus_Acomm_Performance.pdf 6. Nereus Project Web Site: http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=10076 7. NSF Press Release: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114913&org=NSF&from=news 8. WHOI Press Release: http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7545&tid=282&cid=57586&ct=162 Conclusions

• HROV Nereus is a proven platform for conducting oceanographic science in the world’s deepest oceans. – Full ocean depth capability – High bandwidth (multiple-GigE) communications with AUV-like horizontal mobility (kilometers) – Deployable from regional and ocean class oceanographic vessels • Technologies developed for the Nereus vehicle may enable a new generation of light-tethered semi- autonomous intervention vehicles – Under-Ice Survey and Sampling – Rapid event response Nereus Project Team

• Megan Carroll, • Michael V. Jakuba, • Hugh Pompano, • Thomas Crook, • Craig Johnson, • Eric Schmitt, • John Bailey, • Richard Johnson, • Will Sellers, • Andrew D. Bowen, • James C. Kinsey, • Stephen Schmitt, • Lisa Borden, • Robert McCabe, • Tim Shank, • Albert Bradley, • Barbara Fletcher, • Hanu Singh, • James Buescher, • Daniel Fornari, • Jerry Stachiw, • Tito Collasius Jr., • Daniel Gomez-Ibanez, • Amy Stetten, • Al Deuster • Christopher Griner, • Benjamin Tradd, • Daniel Duffany, • Matthew Heintz, • Chris Taylor, • Paul Dugas, • Jonathan Howland, • Karlen Wannop, • Geoff Ekblaw, • Tom Lanagan, • Sarah Webster, • Robert Elder, • Chris Lumping • Louis L. Whitcomb, • A. B. Explorer, • Glenn McDonald, • Lidia Williams, • Norman Farr, • Stephen Martin, • Dana R. Yoerger, • Phillip Forte, • Casey R. Machado, • Chris Young. • Mark Grosenbaugh, • Carlos A. Medeiros, • Edward Hall, • Cathy Offinger, • Jeff Hood, • Don Peters,