MUAUV - MicroAUV. Preliminary System Design Document. Version 2

This Micro-miniature Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (MicroAUV) Project pursues a viable design of a very small AUV. Current MEMS industry miniaturization of electronics enables a 'Clean Sheet' design of an underwater vehicle that could achieve an 'order of magnitude' improvement in specific endurance (range per pound mass of vehicle) over currently fielded systems. Specifically, the authors target a 2-15 lb MicroAUV that can demonstrate a 20 nautical mile per pound mass specific range capability. The design includes a 20% payload fraction in weight and/or volume and a 10% margin for payload power. MicroAUV shall provide the endurance of other vehicles currently in the fleet and between 80 - 200 lbm displacement. Groups (fleets, swarms, etc.) of 10 and larger MicroAUVs will provide all of the capabilities of larger vehicles with increased mission robustness, as the tactical impact of loss of one vehicle will be mitigated by the swarm. An initial report, was provided to underscore the scope of possibility within the opportunity described above. A second report discussed MEMS attributes of design and a notional design concept, as well as integrating attributes of MEMS enabled power issues into the power and sizing analysis. This unlimited DOD distribution report version and attachments provide Milestone 4 objectives, specifically: (1) Completes the power and sizing analysis. (2) Identifies the right size of MicroAUV to be approximately 50 to 125 centimeters (20 to 50 inches) in length and 5 to 12 centimeters (2 to 5 inches) in diameter. Further, shows that variation in performance is critically tied to maximizing diameter for given vehicle length and minimizing onboard instrumentation and payload power. (3) Defines how, at this size, MicroAUV can achieve between 10 and 20 Nm/lbm. The final specific range capability will depend on how design margins are consumed as the design matures. (4) Discusses attributes of the preliminary system design of MicroAUV.