Sea Power - June 2015

A key feature of the vehicle is that it can inspect ship hulls with very limited prior knowledge about the hull shape. You launch the vehicle from the support boat, manually drive it close to the hull over the fiber-optic tether, push a button on the joystick and the vehicle switches to automatic survey mode. It autonomously detects the hull and executes a systematic search pattern at a fixed standoff distance by sensing the hull curvature and following it.

The U.S. Navy fleet users are trained to operate the vehicles in a few days: a day in the classroom and a day or two on the water. We designed this system to be very simple to use. Programming a hull search is trivial and only requires answering simple questions such as what side of the ship the vehicle is going to start from, and what track spacing should be used — very basic information.

The production vehicle is the third-generation HAUV. The vehicle’s design evolved from a concept on paper, to a proof-of-concept prototype (HAUV- 1), to a production prototype (HAUV- 2) and finally a production system (HAUV- 3). Improvements are still made on the production vehicles and retrofitted to earlier vehicles to maintain the same baseline across all production vehicles. Additional upgrades are in progress to expand the use of the vehicle to geo-ref-erenced bottom searches and make it interoperable with other U.S. Navy robotic assets using COIN (Common Operator Interface). If a contact is found by a torpedo-form-factor vehicle and the information is in COIN, it can be pulled out and used to program the Mk19 vehicle for closer investigation.

After searching for IEDs, the next logical step is to make the vehicle capable of neutralizing IEDs it detects. We are already working on this aspect with ONR and have put dual manipulators into a second-generation vehicle for sea testing. We are also looking into adding a manipulation capability to the Mk19 vehicle.

To date, we have focused on IEDs and mines on ship hulls, but when we search a hull we can also see the biofouling. So, people who are interested in monitoring the condition of ship hulls to determine if dry docking is necessary could use the vehicle as it stands today. Through modifications and customiza-tion, the HAUV can also be used in a variety of other applications. We are currently actively pursuing shallow water oil and gas applications.

PROGRAM SNAPSHOT

Bluefin Robotics Continues
EOD HULS Deliveries

BACKGROUND

The Navy accepted delivery of Quincy, Mass.-based Bluefin Robotics Corp.’s ship hull inspection systems 4 and 5 under the “Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Hull Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Localization System” (EOD HULS) Program of Record in February. Each EOD HULS system, known as Mk19, consists of two third-generation Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (HAUV-3s) and associated support equipment that allow for detection of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and limpet mines on ship hulls, piers, pilings and quay walls without putting divers in harm’s way.

SCOPE

The Navy owns 10 production vehicles and two prototypes. Two more systems are scheduled to be purchased this year under a $30 million production contract awarded to Bluefin in 2011 for up to 15 systems.

TIMELINE

HAUV development began in 2002 under Office of Naval Research (ONR) funding. In August 2007, HAUV-1A participated in the EOD HULS Demonstration Phase in San Diego, after which Bluefin was awarded a contract for the Prototype Phase. A system consisting of two HAUV-2-class vehicles, topside/sup-port equipment and spares was delivered to the Navy in October 2008. A successful Fleet Evaluation in May 2010 led to the production contract.

WHO’S WHO

Jerome Vaganay is director of Inspection Systems at Bluefin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Battelle.

Four third-generation Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicles were part of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Hull Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Localization Systems recently delivered to the Navy by Bluefin Robotics Corp.