Robotic submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are increasingly being used for military and civilian purposes. The US Navy is testing the use of AUVs to detect mines in very shallow waters where ships and manned submarines cannot operate safely. AUVs can be programmed to systematically scan areas using sonar to locate mine-like objects. Additionally, underwater satellites and autonomous robots are helping with anti-submarine warfare by detecting enemy submarines.

1. ROBOTIC
SUBMARINES
a large crewed autonomous vessel.
However, historically or colloquially,
submarine can also refer to medium-
sized or smaller vessels (midget
ABSTRACT
submarines, wet subs), remotely
Today’s Navy is a blue-water force--its operated vehicles or robots. The
strengths are in the depths, not the adjective submarine in terms such
shallows -- but it’s preparing for a as submarine cable, means "under the
brown-water fight.
sea". The noun submarine evolved as a
The adaptations and inventions that shortened form of submarine boat (and
allow sailors to not only fight a battle, is often further shortened to sub).[citation
but also live for months or even years needed]
For reasons of naval
underwater are some of the most brilliant tradition submarines are usually referred
developments in military history. to as "boats" rather than as "ships",
Not so long ago, a naval force worked regardless of their size
entirely above the water; with the Although experimental submarines had
addition of the submarine to the standard been built before, submarine design took
naval arsenal, the world below the off during the 19th century, and they
surface be “Studying the creatures at were adopted by several different navies.
these vents, and comparing them with Submarines were first widely used
species at other vents around the world; during World War I (1914–1918) and
will help us to understand how animals now figure in many large navies.
disperse and evolve in the deep ocean,” Military usage includes attacking enemy
said Jon Copley with the University of surface ships or submarines, protection,
Southampton. blockade running, ballistic missile
submarines as part of a nuclear strike
INTRODUCTION force, reconnaissance, conventional land
attack (for example using a cruise
A submarine is a watercraft capable of
missile), and covert insertion of special
independent operation underwater. It
forces. Civilian uses for submarines
differs from a submersible, which has
include marine science, salvage,
more limited underwater capability. The
exploration and facility
term submarine most commonly refers to
inspection/maintenance. Submarines can

2. also be modified to perform more the bathyscaphe, which in turn was an
specialized functions such as search-and- evolution of the diving bell.
rescue missions or undersea cable repair.
Submarines are also used in tourism, and
for undersea archaeology.
Most large submarines consist of a
cylindrical body with hemispherical
(and/or conical) ends and a vertical
structure, usually located amidships,
which houses communications and
sensing devices as well as periscopes. In
modern submarines this structure is the
"sail" in American usage, and "fin" in
European usage.
FIRST SUBMERSIBLES
A "conning tower" was a feature of
earlier designs: a separate pressure hull
above the main body of the boat that
allowed the use of shorter periscopes.
There is a propeller (or pump jet) at the
rear and various hydrodynamic control
fins as well as ballast tanks. Smaller,
deep diving and specialty submarines
may deviate significantly from this
traditional layout.
Submarines have one of the largest The Drebbel, the first navigable submarine
ranges of capabilities in any vessel, The first submersible with reliable
ranging from small autonomous information on its construction was built
examples to one- or two-person vessels in 1620 by Cornelius Drebbel,
operating for a few hours, to vessels a Dutchman in the service of James I of
which can remain submerged for 6 England. It was created to the standards
months such as the Russian Typhoon of the design outlined by English
class - the biggest submarines ever built mathematician William Bourne. It was
and in use. Submarines can work at propelled by means of oars. The precise
greater depths than are survivable or nature of the submarine type is a matter
practical for human divers. Modern deep of some controversy; some claim that it
diving submarines are derived from was merely a bell towed by a boat. Two
improved types were tested in

3. the Thames between 1620 and 1624. In 5. It may be of unspeakable benefit for
2002 a two-person version of Bourne's submarine experiment
design was built for the BBC TV
programme Building the IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL
Impossible by Mark Edwards, and WAR
successfully rowed under water
at Dorney Lake, Eton.
Though the first submersible vehicles
were tools for exploring under water, it
did not take long for inventors to
recognize their military potential. The
strategic advantages of submarines were
set out by Bishop John
Wilkins of Chester, England,
in Mathematicall Magick in 1648:
1. This private: a man may thus go to
any coast in the world invisibly, without
The adjective submarine in terms such
discovery or prevented in his journey.
as submarine cable, means "under the
sea". The noun submarine evolved as
2. This safe, from the uncertainty of
The 1862 Alligator, first submarine of
Tides, and the violence of Tempests,
the United States Navy. It was designed
which do never move the sea above five
by the French engineer, Brutus de
or six paces deep. From Pirates and
villeroi. During the American Civil war
Robbers which do so infest other
both sides successfully built working
voyages; from ice and great frost, which
submarines. The Confederate States of
do so much endanger the passages
America submarines were all designed to
towards the Poles.
attack the Union blockade of Southern
3. It may be of great advantages against ports. Two operational unnamed
a Navy of enemies, who by this may be Confederate submarines were spotted
undermined in the water and blown up. during the latter half of 1861, one in
James River in Virginia and another in
4. It may be of special use for the relief New Orleans. The United States Navy
of any place besieged by water, to was first interested in submarines as a
convey unto them invisible supplies; and way to clear obstacles. Interest in attack
so likewise for the surprisal of any place submarines began at least by May 1861,
that is accessible by water. when French engineer Brutus de villeroi

4. tested an early submarine design in depths of up to 6,000 meters. New
Philadelphia harbor in what may have developments in robotics have also led to
been an effort to attract the Navy’s the creation of AUVs, or Autonomous
attention. Most Confederate submarines Underwater Vehicles. The robotic
were built under the auspices of the submarines are programmed in advance,
Confederate Secret Service rather than and receive no instruction from the
the Confederate Navy, with only three surface. HROV combine features of both
being well known and documented. ROVs and AUV, operating
Others, both Confederate and Union, are independently or with a cable Argo was
known to have existed but their names employed in 1985 to locate the wreck of
and designs have escaped the historical the RMS Titanic; the smaller Jason was
record. In all, evidence indicates that a also used to explore the ship wreck.
combined total of over twenty
operational submarines were built by
both sides during the conflict.
UNMANNED SUBMARINES
One of the first unmanned deep sea
vehicles was developed by the
University of California with a grant
from the Alan Hancock Foundation in
the early 1950s to develop a more
economical method of taking photos
miles under the sea with an unmanned
steel high pressure 3,000lb sphere called
a benthograph which contained a camera According to the BBC, UK’s newest
and strobe light. The original autonomous underwater vehicle known
benthograph built by USC was very as Autosub6000 is on its way to explore
successful in taking a series of the deepest undersea volcanoes in the
underwater photos till it became wedged Caribbean. The robotic submarine can
between some rocks and could not be dive as far as 6000 meters and it will be
retrieved. complemented by the remote controlled
ROVs, or Remote Operated Vehicles, submarine Isis. The robots will explore
are seeing increasing use in underwater the volcanoes all along the Cayman
exploration. These submersibles are Trough with Autosub6000 going first to
piloted through a cable which connects locate the volcanic vents at the bottom of
to the surface ship, and they can reach the ocean and Isis going second to

5. collect samples around the vents. The of-concept artificial lateral line system. It
two submarines will help scientists learn enables a distant touch hydrodynamic
more about life in the deep ocean; the imaging capability to critically augment
team on board the vessel James Cook sonar and vision systems. We show that
which will be heading to the Cayman the artificial lateral line can successfully
Trough expects to find many new perform dipole source localization and
species during the expeditions. Robots hydrodynamic wake detection. The
are helping us explore so much of nature development of the artificial lateral line
we could never hope to explore is aimed at fundamentally enhancing
ourselves in the near future. Several human ability to detect, navigate, and
robots are currently studying the surface survive in the underwater environment.
of Mars looking for water and traces of A submarine will have a variety of
past or current life while these two sensors determined by its missions.
submarines will help us understand life Modern military submarines rely almost
on our planet. The Lunar X-Prize is entirely on a suite of passive and active
determined to prove that robotic sonars to find their prey. Active sonar
missions to the Moon can be both cheap relies on an audible “ping” to generate
and an effective method for scientific echoes to reveal objects around the
research (not that the latter has not been submarine. Active systems are rarely
proved already by NASA’s planetary
used, as doing so reveals the sub’s
rovers but those were definitely not presence. Passive sonar is a set of
cheap.) Scientific applications for sensitive hydrophones set into the hull or
robotics are by far the most valuable and trailed in a towed array, generally
worthwhile of all robotics endeavors
several hundred feet long. The towed
undertaken today. array is the mainstay of NATO
submarine detection systems, as it
SENSORS reduces the flow noise heard by
Nearly all underwater vehicles and operators. Hull mounted sonar is
surface ships today use sonar and vision employed to back up the towed array,
for imaging and navigation. However, and in confined waters where a towed
sonar and vision systems face various array could be fouled by obstacles.
limitations, e.g., sonar blind zones, dark Submarines also carry radar equipment
or murky environments, etc. Evolved for detection of surface ships and
over millions of years, fish use the lateral aircraft. Sub captains are more likely to
line, a distributed linear array of flow use radar detection gear rather than
sensing organs, for underwater active radar to detect targets, as radar can
hydrodynamic imaging and information be detected far beyond its own return
extraction. We demonstrate here a proof- range, revealing the submarine.

6. Periscopes are rarely used, except for
position fixes and to verify a contact’s
identity. Civilian submarines, such as the
DSV Alvin or the Russian Mir
submersibles, rely on small active sonar
sets and viewing ports to navigate.
Sunlight does not penetrate below about
300 feet (91m) underwater, so high
intensity lights are used to illuminate the
viewing area.
The Nautile submarine, owned by the
French Research Institute for
Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER).
Bruno Barnouin, a spokesman for
SUBMARINE STEMS IFREMER, told New Scientist the
TANKER'S OIL LEAKS repairs ought to reduce the amount of oil
A submarine repairing the sunken leaking from the ship’s hull to less than
prestige oil tanker has finished its work – one tonne per day. The original rate was
its operators claim they have stemmed estimated to be more than 100 tonnes per
99 per cent of the leaking. The tanker day. He says the Spanish government,
was patched where it lies, on the floor of who funded the work, will now inspect
the Atlantic, 3.5 kilometers below the the repairs.
surface. It was damaged in November by Metal shot
severe weather off the north-west coast The Nautile performed its first dive on
of Spain and was towed 200 kilometers 16 December. The submarine’s crew
out to sea, where it sank. Oil has already used the submarine’s robotic arms to
polluted hundreds of kilometers of the patch about 20 different leaks in the
Spanish coastline. Prestige’s hull. The challenges posed by
the leaks varied, so a number of different
repair techniques were used. One
solution involved placing metal plugs
over ruptures and securing these using
weighted bags. In another, a bag of metal
shot was inserted into a tube leaking oil.
Barnouin says the patches may last up to

7. 40 years, but admits they could Tenerife and Barbados. It has a diameter
deteriorate much more quickly. of 10,000 to 13,000 feet. The team will
Pumped up use a remote controlled underwater
vehicle to try and recover samples from
“It’s a step in the right direction,” says
what should be the Earth’s exposed
Simon Cripps, director of the World
mantle; mantle is the material that is
Wildlife Fund’s International Marine
found under the Earth’s crust but cannot
Programme, but even a tonne a day is a
be reached normally.
serious ecological problem, he says.
Cripps adds that the Spanish government Because of the extreme depth, a manned
should find a way to retrieve the submarine mission is not possible. As a
remaining oil from the prestige as result, the team will use an autonomous
quickly as possible. “It’s the only underwater vehicle that is essential a
solution,” he told New Scientist. remotely controlled robot with enough
Between 17,000 and 20,000 tonnes of oil on-board decision making to make the
is thought to have leaked from the tanker operator’s job easier. The robot will land
so far, leaving about 60,000 tonnes of oil at the bottom of the crater and drill into
still on board. Much of the leaked oil has the mantle in order to return rock
washed up on the north-west coast of samples back to the ship. In addition, the
Spain, severely damaging the local robot will use its on-board mapping
fishing industry and wildlife. Some oil instruments to create a 3D map of the
has reached the Atlantic coast of France. ocean’s floor.
The Spanish government is currently
considering a proposal by the Dutch
salvage.
Remote controlled robot
to help solve the
mystery of Earth’s
missing crust
A 12-member team of British scientists
are on the way to the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean in an effort to answer the
questions around Earth’s missing crust
deep in the bottom of the ocean.
According to CNN, the hole is about
16,400 feet under the surface of the
Atlantic and located half way between

8. AUVs in Navy Underwater satellites
Seventy-four percent of Persian Gulf and autonomous
waters are shallower than 180 feet. And robots help the hunt
in what the Navy terms very shallow
water – from about 40 feet to the 10-foot
for enemy
depths where waves begin to break – submarines
mines pose an especially acute threat.
There, where ships and manned subs
can’t venture, the Navy traditionally
relies on dolphins to find and mark
mines, and on human divers to set
charges nearby, then swim away before
they explode. The work is painstakingly
slow and dangerous. That’s why military
planners would love to send in a team of
AUVs instead. The AUVs in the Navy
Seals’ tests are programmed before
being dropped into the water. Each
vehicle dedicates itself to a discrete
portion of the harbor, covering it in a Additionally, the lethality of these
series of parallel runs -- a tactic called Submarines may sound like a bit of an
old school Hunt for Red October style
“mowing the grass.” Scanning 150 feet
threat, but Anti-Submarine Warfare
in each direction with sonar, the robot
planning is still vital.
subs note the location of all mine-like
objects. To keep their bearings, they
Diesel-electric submarines are a growing
continually send signals to two threat for four primary reasons. They can
transponders that the Seals have dropped be built a relatively low cost in
in the water at predetermined locations. comparison to traditional platforms and
(The subs are programmed to know have therefore proliferated in numbers-
where the transponders are, so by arguably in numbers that exceed our
assessing how long it takes for their maritime platforms.
signals to bounce back, they ascertain
their own location.) After a few hours, Diesel electric subs have also grown
when the robot subs have covered the while their acoustic signatures are lower
making them harder to detect.
entire harbor, they gather at an appointed
place to be retrieved.

9. SATELLITES IN THE OCEAN A typical military mission for an AUV is
- DASH to map an area to determine if there are
any mines, or to monitor a protected area
DARPA’s Distributed Agile Submarine (such as a harbor) for new unidentified
Hunting or DASH program will detect
objects. AUVs are also employed in anti-
and locate submarines over vast areas in
submarine warfare, to aid in the
both deep and shallow water.
detection of manned submarines.
Scientists use AUVs to study lakes, the
DASH is a sort of an underwater version
of a satellite capable of operating at ocean, and the ocean floor. A variety of
extreme depths in Open Ocean. Known sensors can be affixed to AUVs to
as “subullites,” these are being measure the concentration of various
developed for deployment on deep sea elements or compounds, the absorption
enemy sub stake outs. or reflection of light, and the presence of
microscopic life. Additionally, AUVs
The underwater satellites will be mobile, can be configured as tow-vehicles to
quiet and unmanned. deliver customized sensor packages to
specific locations.
Just like a satellite in the sky, it will have
a large field of view- but in this case of
the water overhead so that it can scan
upwards and from great depths detect the
quiet diesel electric subs.
To hunt submarines in the shallower
continental shelf waters, state of the art
mobile sensors will hunt from above
rather than from below the threat. For
this area, non-acoustic sensing will be
deployed.
Conclusion
AUVs have been used for a limited
number of tasks dictated by the
technology available. With the
development of more advanced
processing capabilities and high yield
power supplies, AUVs are now being
used for more and more tasks with roles
and missions constantly evolving.