Continued Enhancement of Autonomous Marine Vehicle Testing in the South Florida Testing Facility Range 2001-2002

Abstract : The general objective is to investigate basic and applied problems associated with the performance effectiveness of reconnaissance of littoral waters in support of mine warfare and oceanographic tasks. The future mine counter-measure scenarios will include autonomous underwater vehicle operations with integrated communication and navigation capabilities, built around a network of smart acoustic beacons, and RF buoys for real-time telemetry and control. The autonomous ocean sampling network scenarios will include rapid environmental assessment, ocean modeling and prediction, and tracking plumes and other physical and bio-chemical features and events. The main goal of this work is to develop advanced AUV operational capability in order to support military mine counter-measure and scientific ocean exploration tasks.