project summary:
  Worldwide, there has been increasing interest in the analysis of mesoscale ocean dynamics, that appear to old the key for correct descriptions and predictions of ocean system behaviour. However, due to the three dimensional characteristics of the underlying phenomena, the characterization of mesoscale ocean processes for numerical modeling and prediction purposes poses formidable challenges to ocean scientists. This stems from the fact that the space and time scales of the phenomena involved span ranges from 10km to 300km and a few days to some months, respectively. With currently available means, it is simply impossible to obtain oceanographic data with the space and time resolutions required for accurate ocean modeling. Thus the urgent need to develop advanced technological systems for cost effective, automatic ocean data acquisition.

  As a contribution to the solution of this problem, this project puts forward the concept of an autonomous robotic research vessel named CARAVELA, capable of performing a large number of oceanographic missions without support from a permanent, dedicated crew. The CARAVELA vehicle will be equipped with standard, well tested oceanographic equipment operating in standalone mode. The vehicle will be fully autonomous, yet capable of responding to commands issued from land or any sea platform via a remote RF/Satellite communication link. This link will provide a data channel for receiving mission sensor data from the vehicle, as well as sending operator generated commands to the vehicle to re-direct its mission, if required. At the heart of the CARAVELA vessel is an integrated navigation, guidance, and control system that will allow it to follow pre-determined trajectories with great accuracy, without outside intervention. A radar based safety system will enable the vessel to detect and avoid potentially harmful obstacles.

  The range of operation of the CARAVELA will be at least 700 nautical miles. The propulsion system will consist of two electrical engines that will propel the vehicle at an average speed of 4 knots. The vessel's streamlined hull will be 7 meters long, 2 meters wide, and 6 meters high. Maintenance shall be kept at a minimum when compared to that required for classical research vessels. A high day per year rate of vessel work at sea is expected since only interruptions for maintenance and improvement will be required.

  The major objective of the project is the development of a versatile ocean platform that can carry out regularly long range,. open ocean autonomous monitoring operations similar to some of the missions performed by standard research vessels, at much lower costs. At sea experiments with the prototype vehicle will help determine the feasibility of using more than one vessel to carry out ocean surveys over wide ocean areas, for long periods of time.


research and development areas:
  Naval Engineering. Ship Building. Scientific Marine Systems. Communication Systems. Navigation, Guidance, and Control of Autonomous Vehicles. Obstacle Detection and Avoidance. Mission Control of Robotic Ocean Vehicles.

project duration:
October 1998-December 2000.

project coordinator:
IMAR/University of the Açores (PT)
Scientific Packages. Ocean Data Acquisition and Processing. Logistic Support and Management of Operations at Sea.

project partners:

• RINAVE Registro Internacional Naval (PT)
  Naval Engineering. Vehicle and Propulsion System Design.
• Institute for Systems and Robotics/Instituto Superior Técnico - ISR/IST (PT)
  Vehicle Modeling and Control. Navigation and Communications. Mission Control Distributed Computer Computer Networks. Radar System.
• CONAFI (PT)
  Ship Building.
• System Technologies (UK)
  Automatic Winch System.
• SIMRAD (NO)
  Acoustic Sounders.

funding/sponsorship:
Programmes PRAXIS XXI (PT) and EUREKA (Commission of the European Communities).