Autonomous underwater vehicle docking system for cabled ocean observatory network

A new funnel-type autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) docking system that can be connected to a cabled ocean observatory network is developed to charge AUVs undersea. The main features of the system include non-penetrating power and data transfer without any auxiliary actuators, auto-orientation adjustment of the entrance, magnetic clamping of the AUV, and ultra-short baseline (USBL) and computer vision integrated navigation. A homing control method based on cross-track error for USBL navigation is proposed. Its design goal is to rapidly eliminate cross-track errors and change the behavior of the AUV smoothly without losing USBL signal in lateral current. The prototype system was tested in a water pool. Light tracking, docking, and clamping were successful. The battery of the AUV was effectively charged by the non-penetrating power transfer component at 144 W, during which the non-penetrating data transfer component worked properly.