EUREKA project developing autonomous robot submarines
A project supported by the EUREKA initiative is continuing development of a fully autonomous underwater exploration vehicle which was first demonstrated in a project funded by the Community's Marine Science and Technology (MAST) programme. The companies and research institutes involved in the EUROMAR-STIRLING AUV project aim to be the first to develop a fully autonomous robot submarine. The MARTIN 2000 vehicle which they are working on is based on the prototype MARTIN 100, developed in the MAST project. The battery-powered MARTIN 100 could work at depths of 100 metres and at a distance of 2 km from its parent ship. The battery life allowed it to travel up to 70 km between recharges. The MARTIN 2000 vehicle will be fitted with a Stirling engine, allowing it to work at depths of 200 metres, travel 500 km without refuelling and operate for 55 hours at a time. The key to the project is the Stirling engine, which uses an external burner to heat a gas such as air or helium in a sealed cylinder. The driving force is generated using the pressures obtained from the expansion and contraction of the gas. The power unit and generator are both contained in one sealed unit, allowing vibrations and noise to be minimized. The vehicle will be controlled using an ultrasound data link and, in favourable conditions, it should be able to operate up to 10 km from its parent ship. Five on-board computers, and a mixture of global positioning system and inertial navigation will give it the intelligence to navigate without operator input. Sea trials of MARTIN 2000 should be completed in 1999, with a production model available later that year. Possible applications will include inspecting pipelines, cables, and other underwater installations, oceanographic surveys, seabed sampling, searches and venturing into hazardous areas.