An autonomous underwater vehicle for performing subsea operations is disclosed. The autonomous underwater vehicle, AUV, 100 comprises a hull 101 having a nose end and a tail end; a propulsion mechanism 152 configured to propel the AUV; and an internal ballast 151 located in the hull. The propulsion mechanism comprises a pair of counter-rotating propellers 153, wherein the rotational speed of each propeller is independently controllable. The AUV further comprises an internal ballast positioning mechanism configured to controllably move the internal ballast relative to the hull. The independently controllable propellers of the pair of counter-rotating propellers and the internal ballast positioning mechanism each provide roll control for the AUV. Also disclosed is an AUV with a steerable propulsion mechanism and a method of navigating an AUV between sea level and a seabed.
Autonomous underwater vehicle
2025-02-05
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B63G OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE ARRANGEMENTS ON VESSELS , Angriffs- oder Verteidigungsanordnungen auf Schiffen |
AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE RECOVERY METHOD, AND AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE
European Patent Office | 2022
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