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NIO tests performance of Autonomous Underwater
Vehicle 'Maya'
Maya - a small Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
(AUV), developed by National Institute of Oceanography
(NIO), fitted with sensors for oxygen, chlorophyll,
conductivity, turbidity, temperature and depth
recently performed two test missions in the Iddukki
Dam in Kerala. In the first mission the vehicle
was programmed to dive to different depths in
a staircase pattern up to 21m, and in the second
mission at 1m-depth upto 4 kilometers of continuous
operation. She successfully collected data in
both the missions.
A significant step in developing the small AUV
at the NIO, was undertaken by a team of Scientists
Dr. Elgar Desa, R. Madhan, Shivanand Prabhudesai,
Pramod Maurya, Gajanan Navelkar, Sanjeev Afzulpurkar,
A. Mascarenhas, RG Prabhu Desai, SN Bandodkar
and a group of young Project Assistants. The project
is funded by The Department of Information Technology
in the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles [AUVs] are essentially
robot platforms that can be used to collect data
and imagery in the ocean, lakes, estuaries, rivers,
and dams. AUVs are novel machines that can be
programmed to dive and maintain control at any
given depth layer in a water body, to change course,
to follow seabed terrain, to avoid obstacles and
when a mission is accomplished to return 'home'.
A single underwater motor is used to propel Maya.
Two stern planes and a single rudder control diving
and heading maneuver respectively. The nose section
on Maya is removable and different sensors can
be fitted onto it for specific mission at sea.
This AUV is designed to receive commands from
shore and also send data over high-speed radio
link. Underwater navigation uses the Doppler Velocity
Log (DVL) and a dead reckoning algorithm that
estimates position below surface. Surface navigation
is based on GPS.
The Maya AUV has many applications in oceanography.
She can collect standard oceanographic data in
confined areas; carry out shallow water bathymetry
using acoustic methods; detect blooms with the
help of optical radiometers; and also work as
a test platform for new sensor technologies.
Maya is scheduled next for test operations in
the coastal waters of India.
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