Acoustic Communication with Small UUVs Using a Hull-Mounted Conformal Array

A new conformal array designed to enhance acoustic communication on small unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) is presented. The array is intended to improve the reliability and rate of acoustic communication to UUVs under conditions of multipath, multiuser interference, broadband or narrowband jamming and low signal-to-noise ratio. The array elements are constructed from a piezocomposite material that can be injection molded to nearly any shape, including into curves that match the hull radius of the vehicle. The array is encapsulated into a low-profile assembly 0.02 m thick and bonded directly to the hull of a REMUS vehicle. The frequency response and beampatterns were measured to determine the characteristics of the completed arrays. The array was deployed for initial trials in both horizontal and vertical orientations in shallow water. The performance of the array for both single and multiuser phase-coherent communication is presented.