Modular AUV System with Integrated Real-Time Water Quality Analysis
1
Institute for Automation and Systems Engineering, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Helmholtzplatz 5, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany
2
Fraunhofer IOSB-AST, Am Vogelherd 50, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany
3
-4H- JENA Engineering GmbH, Mühlenstraße 126, 07745 Jena, Germany
4
Institute of Marine Research, Nordnesgaten 50, 5005 Bergen, Norway
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
The author was with the Institute for Automation and Systems Engineering for the main part of this work. He is now with University of Augsburg, Faculty of Applied Computer Science.
‡
The author was with the Fraunhofer IOSB-AST. He is now with ATLAS Maridan ApS.
§
The author was with the -4H- JENA engineering GmbH. She is now retired.
Sensors 2018, 18(6), 1837; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18061837
Received: 9 May 2018 / Revised: 1 June 2018 / Accepted: 3 June 2018 / Published: 5 June 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensing, Communication, Networking and Systems)
This paper describes the concept, the technical implementation and the practical application of a miniaturized sensor system integrated into an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for real-time acquisition of water quality parameters. The main application field of the presented system is the analysis of the discharge of nitrates into Norwegian fjords near aqua farms. The presented system was developed within the research project SALMON (Sea Water Quality Monitoring and Management) over a three-year period. The development of the sensor system for water quality parameters represented a significant challenge for the research group, as it was to be integrated in the payload unit of the autonomous underwater vehicle in compliance with the underwater environmental conditions. The German company -4H- JENA engineering GmbH (4HJE), with experience in optical in situ-detection of nutrients, designed and built the measurement system. As a carrier platform, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) “CWolf” from Fraunhofer-Institut für Optronik, Systemtechnik und Bildauswertung - Institutsteil Angewandte Systemtechnik (IOSB-AST) modified to an AUV was deployed. The concept presented illustrates how the measurement system can be integrated easily into the vehicle with a minimum of hard- and software technical interfaces.