Motion forecast of intelligent underwater sampling apparatus —— Part I: Design and algorithm

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel intelligent underwater sampling apparatus (IUSA) mounted on autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with an essential practical sense, as the IUSA can be conveniently released from AUV to accomplish the underwater sampling task and then surface up by releasing the ballast itself. Mechanical design of the IUSA is briefly introduced, which has the feature of simple structure to carry the sampling sensor, low power consumption, high reliability of release and recycling utilization. It easily achieves the ability to dive in and surface up only by adjusting its buoyancy. However, it is rather difficult to confirm the surfacing time of the IUSA in order to timely recover it, since the underwater motion forecast of the IUSA is largely disturbed by complex fluid hydrodynamics. This paper presents a steady-state superposition algorithm to address the problem of motion forecast of the sampling apparatus, with the assistant of computational fluid dynamics software to take into account the dynamics of the IUSA in sea water, which is instrumental in helping the mission operators recover the apparatus for recycling utilization.