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A non-contact docking system for charging and recovering autonomous underwater vehicle

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Abstract

To improve the observation capability of the ocean, the combination of the static cabled ocean observatory network and the dynamic autonomous underwater vehicle has attracted more and more attention. In this paper, a non-contact docking system for the autonomous underwater vehicle is developed to combine the advantages of the cabled ocean observatory network and the autonomous underwater vehicle. The system includes both acoustic and optical navigation, underwater wireless communication, non-contact power transfer, and monitoring and controlling of the docking system. This docking system was verified by sea trials at depths of 50 and 105 m. The autonomous underwater vehicle successfully docked 11 times, during which non-contact power transfer and wireless communication were completed. The charging power reached 682 W, with a total efficiency of 78.5%, and the efficiency of the power transfer unit was 92%. The rate of wireless data transfer reached 3.1 MB/s. For the first time, this docking system has realized complete homing and docking navigation, wireless communication and charging in a water depth of more than 100 m, thus establishing a good foundation for the combination of the cabled ocean observatory network and autonomous underwater vehicles.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the financial support from the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2013AA09A414) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41676089).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Ri Lin, Dejun Li, Tao Zhang & Mingwei Lin

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  1. Ri Lin
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  2. Dejun Li
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  3. Tao Zhang
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  4. Mingwei Lin
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Correspondence to Dejun Li.

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Lin, R., Li, D., Zhang, T. et al. A non-contact docking system for charging and recovering autonomous underwater vehicle. J Mar Sci Technol 24, 902–916 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-018-0595-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-018-0595-6

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