Monitoring of Seaweed Bed by a Surface Piercing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle with a Sidescan Sonar

AUV ‘REEF’ was developed in Osaka University for monitoring environments in coastal sea areas. ‘REEF’ is characterized as a surface piercing autonomous underwater vehicle using route tracking control in horizontal plane and pitch control in waves in longitudinal plane. Route tracking controller was designed using PID control method, and pitch control is designed using H∞ control method. AUV ‘REEF’ will be operated in coastal sea areas in Tohoku to monitor the seaweed beds heavily damaged by the March 11 2011 Japan Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami. The estimation method of standing biomass of seaweed was developed using AUV ‘REEF’ equipped with a sidescan sonar.