A Prototype Design and Sea Trials of an 11,000 m Autonomous and Remotely-Operated Vehicle Dream Chaser

作者：Zhe Jiang, Bin Lü, Biao Wang, Weicheng Cui, Jinfei Zhang, Ruilong Luo, Gaosheng Luo, Shun Zhang, Zhongjun Mao · 发表于：Journal of Marine Science and Engineering · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.3390/jmse10060812 · 被引用次数：13 · 研究领域：Underwater Vehicles and Communication Systems、Maritime Navigation and Safety、Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses

To better study the biology and ecology of hadal trenches for marine scientists, the Hadal Science and Technology Research Center (HAST) of Shanghai Ocean University proposed to construct a movable laboratory that includes a mothership, several full-ocean-depth (FOD) submersibles, and FOD landers to obtain samples in the hadal trenches. Among these vehicles, the project of an FOD autonomous and remotely-operated vehicle (ARV) named “Dream Chaser” was started in July 2018. The ARV could work in both remotely-operated and autonomous-operated modes, and serves large-range underwater observation, on-site sampling, surveying, mapping, etc. This paper proposed a novel three-body design of the FOD ARV. A detailed illustration of the whole system design method is provided. Numerical simulations and experimental tests for various sub-systems and disciplines have been conducted, such as resistance analysis using the computational fluid mechanics method and structural strength analysis for FOD hydrostatic pressure using the finite element method and pressure chamber tests. In addition, components tests and the entire system tests have been performed on land, underwater, and in the pressure chamber in the laboratory of HAST, and the results are discussed. Extensive experiments of two critical components, i.e., the thrusters and ballast-abandoning system, have been conducted and further analyzed in this paper. Finally, the procedures and results of lake trials, South China Sea trials and ...