Propulsion and Control of long endurance unmanned marine vehicles

该计划的总体目标是使无人驾驶海上航行器能够执行目前不可能完成的长期任务，这是由于现有动力的限制和相对较低的推进系统效率。更具体地说，这项研究计划将专注于开发(A)新一代适用于中小型水面和水下航行器(1000公斤排水量)的高效推进系统(B)先进的设计和控制策略，利用风和水流等环境条件，显著提高相对较小的无人驾驶航行器的耐力。科学方法推进系统将采取的方法是将实验室实验、商用数值工具和现场评估结合到一个闭环性能优化系统中。这种方法允许覆盖大的设计空间，并对结果具有必要的信心，这是通过有限但具有代表性的一系列实验室和现场实验建立的。类似地，在更大的范围内，现有海洋数值预测工具的使用以及当地感知的环境因素，即风和洋流，将被用作无人驾驶飞行器控制和导航系统的输入，以计算(A)可行的、可能的(B)到期望目标位置或区域的最佳轨迹。北极主权、北极资源开发和气候变化是加拿大、加拿大政府、自然资源部门和海洋科学家面临的重大问题。有效地探索、绘制和监测我们的海洋的能力受到现有资源的限制。无人驾驶和自动化系统将在这些任务中发挥重要作用。要做到这一点，关键是要有系统，这些系统可以很容易地运输到偏远地区，并且可以在不需要重大基础设施的情况下长时间运行。拟议的研究计划利用了我在水下滑翔机研究方面的经验和成功。滑翔机的续航时间长达6个月，航程可超过1000公里。然而，这是以传感器封装非常有限和速度缓慢为代价的。从海洋滑翔机在商业和科学上的成功及其重大局限性来看，人们认识到推进是这些类型飞行器的主要动力消耗，因此对整体耐力和航程有重大影响。这适用于大多数电动汽车，如果不是全部的话。通过开发更高效的推进系统，用于水面和水下的小型飞行器将变得更有能力，能够在外面停留更长时间来探索、绘制地图或监测偏远地区。将高效的设计与考虑电流和风的控制策略相结合，将进一步提高耐力，并有助于在这些恶劣环境中建立更可持续的远程存在。

ObjectiveThe overarching objective of this program is to enable unmanned marine vehicles to conduct long endurance missions that are currently impossible, due to constraints in availablepower and relatively poor propulsion system efficiency. More specifically this research program will focus on the development of(a) A new generation of highly efficient propulsion systems for small and medium scale surface and underwater vehicles (<1,000kg displacement)(b) Advanced design and control strategies that take advantage of environmental conditions, such as winds and currents, to significantly enhance the endurance of relatively small unmanned marine vehicles.Scientific ApproachThe approach to be taken for the propulsion system is to combine laboratory experiments, commercially available numerical tools and field evaluations into a closed loop performance optimization system. This approach allows covering a large design space with the necessary confidence in the results, which is being established through a limited but representative series of laboratory and field experiments.Similarly on a larger scale the usage of existing numerical ocean prediction tools as well as locally sensed environmental factors, i.e. winds and currents, will be used as an input into a control and navigation system for unmanned vehicles in order to compute (a) a feasible and possibly (b) an optimal trajectory to a desired target location or area.Novelty and SignificanceCanada, bordering three oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, has the world's longest coastline. Arctic sovereignty, resource development in the Arctic and Climate change are major issues for Canada, its government, its natural resource sector and to ocean scientists. The ability to efficiently explore, map and monitor our oceans is limited by the available resources. Unmanned and automated systems will play a major role in these tasks. A key to do this is to have systems available that can be easily transported into remote areas and can operate for extended periods of time without the necessity of significant infrastructure.The proposed research program leverages my experiences and successes of my research with underwater gliders. Gliders have an endurance of up to 6 months and can cover distances exceeding 1000km. However this comes at the cost of very limited sensor packages and slow speed. Learning from the commercial and scientific successes of ocean gliders and their significant limitations, one realizes that propulsion is the major power drain of these types vehicles and therefore has a significant impact on overall endurance and range. This holds true for most if not all electrically powered vehicles. By developing a more efficient propulsion system, smaller vehicles, for the surface and underwater, will become more capable and will be able to stay out longer to explore, map or monitor remote areas. Combining the efficient design with control strategies that take currents and winds into account will further improve the endurance and will help to establish a more sustainable remote presence in these harsh environments.