How an Autonomous Vehicle Found the 'Holy Grail' of Shipwrecks

[rangerrebew]

How an Autonomous Vehicle Found the 'Holy Grail' of Shipwrecks
 
 
By Don Reisinger 11:51 AM EDT

An autonomous vehicle was required to find the “holy grail of shipwrecks” that had up to $17 billion in gold, silver, and emeralds on it.

In a statement on Monday, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) released fascinating new details about the recovery of the San José, a Spanish galleon ship that was sunk in 1708 during the War of Spanish Succession and was discovered three years ago off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. According to the WHOI, which needed to obtain permission to divulge more details on the discovery from the Maritime Archaeology Consultants (MAC) and Colombian government, the ship was discovered 600 meters (1,968 feet) below the surface by an autonomous vehicle called the REMUS 6000.

http://fortune.com/2018/05/22/holy-grail-of-shipwrecks-remus-6000-automonous-underwater-vehicle/

[thackney]

https://www.whoi.edu/main/remus6000

The REMUS 6000 is an innovative, versatile research tool designed to operate in depths ranging from 25 meters (82 feet) to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet or 3.73 miles), allowing for a wide range of autonomous operations.

The REMUS 6000 —the largest of the REMUS vehicles— provides ample space and power for even the most challenging applications. The AUV has the ability to travel farther, go deeper, and carry a more complex set of sensors, but it boasts the same proven software and electronic subsystems found in the highly successful REMUS 100 AUV. The vehicle’s launch and recovery system is designed to function off the stern of a ship and can be set up for shipboard operations within a few hours.

Specifications
Vehicle Diameter:   71 cm/28 in
Vehicle Length:   3.84 m/12.6 ft
Weight in Air:   862 kg/1900 lbs
Max Operating Depth:   6000 meters/19,685 ft/3.7 miles
Energy:   11 kWh rechargeable Li-ion battery pack
Endurance:   Mission duration of up to 22 hours
Propulsion:   Direct drive DC brushless motor to an open 2-bladed propeller
Velocity Range:   Up to 2.6 m/s (5 knots)
Control:   2 coupled yaw and pitch fins; altitude, depth, yo-yo, and track-line
Tracking:   Emergency transponder, mission abort, ascent weight drop, Iridium, GPS
Communications:   Acoustic modem, Iridium, 802.11B Wi-Fi

Navigation:

Inertial Navigation Unit (INU)
Consists of accelerometers and gyros which measure the vehicle’s movement in three directions (surge, sway, heave), and three rotations (roll, pitch, yaw), just like an airplane or a rocket to determine the vehicle’s velocity and current mission travel distance.

Integrates data from other instruments to calculate a “best estimate” of the vehicle’s actual location.

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP)
Uses pulses of sound bounced off of the seafloor to determine the vehicle’s altitude and ground speed.

Pencil-Beam Sonar Collision Avoidance System
Uses pulses of sound sent in the direction the vehicle is headed that bounce off of obstacles in its way, determining the need for evasive action to maneuver around an obstacle.