Deployment of the AUV HOBALIN to an Active Hydrothermal Vent Field with an Improved Obstacle Avoidance System

The aim of our work is to develop the seafloor observing platform, which can safely approach targets in active hydrothermal vent fields. HOBALIN is a promissing hovering-type AUV and it has ability to cruise and take photographs at an altitude of 3 meters. In order to enable HOBALIN to dive into such harsh environment, we modified its obstacle avoidance system by adding extra functions such as a sonar, a thermometer, and a backward movement. After the modification, we deployed HOBALIN in the west offshore of Kume-jima Island, which is known for densely formed hydrothermal chimneys in recent years. HOBALIN successfully detected and avoided chimneys 33 times during the 5-hour dive. However, it was stranded for 26 minutes on the way due to the malfunction of the laser altimeter. Although we found that some more improvements were required to use the avoidance system safely, we believe that the main function of the system was verified.