The primary role of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is to provide a vehicle platform to carry sensors for data collection underwater. Integration of new or additional sensors into AUVs is complex and never straightforward. This is particularly the case with small man portable AUVs where there are significant restrictions on space, weight and power. Current AUVs operated by the ADF have been acquired and delivered with fixed payloads and often don’t have the system architecture to allow for easily integrating new sensors without significant design modification or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) intervention.
In addition to the limitation on the variety of sensors that can be carried by AUVs, the capability of an AUV to conduct operations in close proximity to vertical structures such as ship hulls or wharves is currently very limited. Track keeping sensor technology (ability for AUV to maintain a set distance from a reference surface) presently installed on AUV focuses on keeping the vehicles off the seabed or to maintain a set depth from the surface. Presently they do not have the ability to laterally track keep and navigate maintaining a set stand-off distance horizontally.
AMC Search (AMCS) have recently completed a successful demonstration of their Whiskers AUV Sensor Module named Whiskers under a Defence Innovation contract to address the issues discussed above. Whiskers is a multi-vehicle, multi-purpose sensing and guidance platform that fully integrates with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) AUVs and aims at fostering subsea innovation.