Thunder Bay: AUVs in the Sanctuary

The Iver2 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a commercial AUV system manufactured by Ocean-Server Technology of Fall River, MA. The University of Michigan owns and operates two custom Iver2 AUV systems. These systems serve as a multi-vehicle testbed for conducting underwater robotic navigation research. The vehicles have been customized to include advanced navigation and mapping sensors typically found on full-ocean depth AUVs. For example, the AUVs have down-looking camera systems for taking pictures of the sea floor. They also have acoustic sonar sensors for mapping large areas of the bottom. The two vehicles can work together by talking to each other with underwater acoustic modems.

Researchers from the University of Michigan used these experimental vehicles to help NOAA perform exploratory navigation and mapping of the borders of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary during the 2008 field season. Two levels of mapping resolution were performed: (1) large-area survey coverage via sidescan sonar from mid-water column surveys, and (2) high-resolution optical imaging surveys from near-bottom surveys. The sidescan sonar surveying allowed for large-area searches of new wrecks in and around the proposed expansion of the sanctuary’s borders. The high-resolution optical surveys provided visual confirmation of acoustic targets.