Resident AUV Workshop 2018: Applications and a Path Forward

Long-term, persistent Resident AUV (RAUV) systems, able to be deployed for months to years without manned support vessels, will have a profound impact on our ability to observe temporally and spatially changing phenomena throughout entire volumes of the ocean. Further, RAUVs may provide a means of remotely interacting with subseainfrastructure, offering tremendous savings on maintenance that would otherwise require manned vessels and ROVs.During a workshop in May, 2018, 100 participants gathered in Seattle, WA to assess opportunities for RAUVs. Applications evaluated range from observing mid-ocean ridgevolcanic eruptions, to intermittent methane seep activity, to arctic ice motion, and eventually to the search for life in off-planet oceans. In all cases, long-term RAUV deployments will require a system of components for energy management, communications, navigation, as well as self-diagnostics and advanced autonomy functions. While many of the subsystems necessary for viable residency have been demonstrated individually, it will take time, testing and focused system and reliability engineeringbefore RAUV operations become routine. As evidenced by the spectrum of industry and academic participants in the workshop, industry-academic partnerships may be a plausible means of accelerating RAUV systems and applications.