Acoustically Controlled Remotely Operated Undersea Vehicles: A Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

This thesis topic stems from a U.S. Navy effort to alter an existing remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system. A vehicle reliant on a tethered connection to an operator requires adaptation to an untethered acoustically controlled vehicle. This project provides a tradespace exploration based in simulation of factors which limit untethered ROV performance. Factors which promote the use of an untethered system over a tethered system are also explored. A MATLAB simulation has been constructed to analyze a hypothetical ROV grid search mission across multiple parameters relating to the vehicle specifications, the mission layout, the acoustic communication system, and the operating environment. This simulation can then be used to generate a wide range of data regarding ROV performance by use of the Monte Carlo method. The performance metrics output by the simulation, along with an automated analytical tool created to process simulation data, provide quantitative insight into the viability of an ROV utilizing an acoustic communication system across a variety of scenarios.