How Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) Protect Oceans?

“AUVs can work for a long time without getting tired and at depths impossible for a diver,” IEEE Senior Member Gabriele Ferri said. “Divers can operate typically up to 60 meters, requiring use of special gases and tools when operating at higher depths. Additionally, the time they can spend at such a high depth is quite limited. However, the sea bottom goes much deeper (up to 11,000 meters) and many installations are below the operating depth of divers, such as oil rigs or communications pipelines.”

Essentially, vehicles and sensors are capable of covering and collecting data in larger areas, at greater depths and at quicker speeds than human divers and researchers. Plus, the deployment of a swarm of long-range and long endurance AUVs is capable of collecting environmental measurements without impacting marine life, said IEEE Senior Member Fausto Ferreira.

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) play a valuable role in the maintenance and observance of our oceans, seas, rivers and lakes to ensure safety to our most valuable natural resources, as well as provide assistance to the divers who perform important tasks within the depths of our largest bodies of water. India is looking to expand research and development work on underwater vehicles and intends to develop long-endurance AUVs for commercial and defence applications in the near future. While there is significant growth in the sector, not many people are aware about the functionalities of AUVs and what their advantages are. IEEE Senior Members Roberto Petroccia, Fausto Ferreira, and Gabriele Ferri, who are also members of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES), gave their insights on AUVs. They currently work at the NATO Science and Technology Organization Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation in La Spezia, Italy.