An integrated method and system for communication, positioning, navigation, and timing of a deep-sea vehicle. The method implements integration and deep fusion of communication, positioning, navigation, and timing, and can achieve uniformity of space references and time references between sensors and systems, can reduce difficulty in information fusion, and can implement convenient underwater acoustic communication, real-time/high-update-rate/low-power-consumption/high-precision positioning, high-precision/fault-tolerant navigation, and precise timing. The present invention implements simultaneous operation of four working modes: communication, positioning, navigation, and timing, to fundamentally resolve problems such as insufficient practicability of underwater acoustic communication, low accuracy of navigation and positioning, and no timing function, so as to improve underwater operation efficiency of a deep-sea vehicle.

When on-water control means 20 having moving means and capable of moving near a water surface controls a multiple underwater vehicles 30 which cruise in water, the moving means 23 controls movement of the on-water control means 20 such that the multiple underwater vehicles 30 are located in a control region X where the on-water control means 20 can position the multiple underwater vehicles 30 utilizing acoustic positioning means 24 provided in the on-water control means 20. According to this, it is possible to deploy and operate the multiple underwater vehicles in water and safely and efficiently carry out survey operation and the like such as water bottom exploration.

Indoors positioning and navigation systems and methods are described herein. In one embodiment, a system for inspecting or maintaining a storage tank includes a vehicle having: at least one sensor for determining properties of a storage tank and a navigation system. The navigation system includes an acoustic transmitter carried by the vehicle and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor configured to at least partially determine a location of the vehicle with respect to the storage tank. The vehicle also includes a propulsion unit configured to move the vehicle within the storage tank, and an acoustic receiver fixed with respect to the storage tank. The vehicle moves inside the storage tank in concentric arcs with respect to the acoustic receiver.

Indoors positioning and navigation systems and methods are described herein. In one embodiment, a system for inspecting or maintaining a storage tank includes a vehicle having: at least one sensor for determining properties of a storage tank and a navigation system. The navigation system includes an acoustic transmitter carried by the vehicle and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor configured to at least partially determine a location of the vehicle with respect to the storage tank. The vehicle also includes a propulsion unit configured to move the vehicle within the storage tank, and an acoustic receiver fixed with respect to the storage tank. The vehicle moves inside the storage tank in concentric arcs with respect to the acoustic receiver.

The disclosure provides a method and system for hierarchical disturbance rejection depth tracking control of an underactuated underwater vehicle, and the depth tracking of the underactuated underwater vehicle is divided into kinematic layer guidance and dynamic layer pitch tracking. Adaptive line of sight guidance is used in the kinematic layer to convert a depth error into a desired pitch angle and to estimate and compensate an angle of attack to reject disturbance introduced by an unmeasurable true angle of attack. Based on the above, in the dynamic layer, the active disturbance rejection sliding mode pitch tracking method is used to observe a composite disturbance including an unknown dynamic model and an environmental disturbance by using the active disturbance rejection framework. The model is compensated as a unified integral series type, a sliding mode control law is finally designed to resist an observation error, and a control elevator angle is calculated.

A method for harnessing wave energy includes providing a vehicle to a body of water, the vehicle. The method includes submerging the vehicle to a depth in the body of water. The method includes operating the motor-generator of the vehicle in the first quadrant of the motor-generator. The method includes detecting a phase of a wave in the body of water based information from the processor of the detected phase. The method includes orienting the vehicle to lag the phase of the wave based on the detected phase of the wave. The method includes synchronizing an inertial acceleration of the vehicle to movement of the wave. The method includes switching the motor-generator to the second quadrant for generation mode to convert energy from the movement of the wave to electrical energy. The method includes storing the energy from the wave in the rechargeable battery source.

The present invention solves the foregoing problems by providing a control system comprising a remote control module in wireless communication with a cable reel module connected to a motor operated cable reel. Advantageously, the remote control module comprises a first user interface for entering instructions and a processor for transmitting the instructions to the cable reel module to extend or retract the cable and thus control the ascent or descent of an ROV attached to the cable. Due to the processor-controlled nature of the control system automated operations of ROV ascent and descent can be realised. Furthermore, the cable reel module itself is provided with a second user interface that can enact a manual override and emergency stop of the ROV motion in the event that the remote control aspect malfunctions or is being operated incorrectly.

The invention relates to a method for determining a water current velocity profile in a water column by registration of a deviation between a first position and a second position of an underwater vehicle travelling in the water column. A batch of underwater vehicles is deployed from a surface vessel into the water. The vehicle(s) steers to the first position, which for the first batch is a predefined estimated position (PEP). The vehicle is by first means recording the second position, which is the actual position (AP). The difference ΔP between the predefined estimated position PEP and the actual position is registered and based on the difference a deviation data set is calculated. An updated current profile or stack of horizontal water current velocities UV is determined.

The present disclosure relates to sea floor mapping, and more particularly to a method, system, and apparatus for mapping a large swath of sea floor at substantial depths. An example autonomous underwater vehicle may include: a controller; a body having a front end and a rear end and defining a cavity and a center of gravity; a first dive plane extending from the body proximate the center of gravity; a second dive plane extending from the body substantially opposite of the first dive plane proximate the center of gravity; a counterweight disposed within the cavity configured to be moved between the front end and the rear end of the body, wherein a fore-aft pitch of the body of the autonomous underwater vehicle is controlled by the controller through movement of the counterweight toward the front end or the rear end of the body.

An aquaculture system can include an aquafarm with one or more aquatic pods of aquatic organisms and a remote device to manage the aquafarm. An aquatic pod may be associated with an aquatic structure with a buoyancy system and a control device to automatically perform daily farming functions. The aquatic structure may include an enclosure to hold the aquatic organisms. The control device may be configured to use a smart buoyancy assistant to control the buoyancy system and to determine the farming task to perform in response to environmental stimuli. The remote device can receive data representing crop metrics, harvest results, and sensor data. The remote device can aggregate data from multiple aquatic pods and correlate the data to generate aquaculture models to improve the harvest results. The remote device can generate overview and maintenance reports for the aquafarm.