Abstract
AbstractAutonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have become promising tools for marine geological surveys to collect information such as the topography of the seafloor and the location of hydrothermal plumes. Visual surveys and sampling are mainly conducted using human‐occupied vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. To obtain detailed visual data more efficiently, a hovering‐type AUV (Hobalin), which has the novel ability to autonomously navigate within a vent field, was developed to explore hydrothermal deposits. This vehicle was deployed in an active hydrothermal vent field located in the western offshore of Kumejima Island at a depth of approximately 1,400 m. Visual observations were performed with submillimeter image resolution via low‐altitude navigation using still cameras. Moreover, a height estimation method for chimney structures was proposed utilizing an obstacle avoidance system composed of a sheet laser and a forward‐looking camera with hovering maneuver capability. It was determined that hovering‐type AUVs can facilitate the effective survey of hydrothermal vents and the acquired data can be utilized for subsequent sampling by human‐occupied vehicles and remotely operated vehicles.
Published Version
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