This project will address the problem of creating mosaic maps of the seafloor using remotely-operated vehicles (ROV) or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The author believes that a number of shortcomings of the current system could be improved upon through the use of SIFT for image registration. Time permitting, the author wou...

Methodologies and algorithms are presented for the secure cooperation of a team of autonomous mobile underwater sensors, connected through an acoustic communication network, within surveillance and patrolling applications. In particular, the work proposes a cooperative algorithm in which the mobile underwater sensors (installed on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles-AUVs) respond to simple local rul...

Traditional underwater images for ecology study often include time-lapse or brief video recordings over short periods of time. More recently, with the installation of under water cabled observatories that provide constant electrical power and data connections to the seafloor, longterm video recordings are possible for the first time. These valuable recordings are essential for underwater ecolog...

Compact zero-mass pulsatile jet actuators are proposed for low-speed maneuvering and station keeping of small underwater vehicles. The flow field of such jets are initially dominated by vortex ring formation. Pinched-off vortices characterize the extremum impulse accumulated by the leading vortex ring in a vortex ring formation process. Relevant parameters in this process are identified in orde...

The development of precise and robust navigation strategies for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) is fundamental to reach the high level of performance required by complex underwater tasks, often including more than one AUV. One of the main factors affecting the accuracy of AUVs navigation systems is the algorithm used to estimate the vehicle motion, usually based on kinematic vehicle model...