Development of an autonomous underwater vehicle for survey of cobalt-rich manganese crust

AUV BOSS-A with visual and acoustic instrument device has been developed to survey manganese crusts located at the depth of 1,000 to 2,400 m. The AUV navigates at constant speed and altitude along waypoints with primary set, and automatically observes the seafloor by developed instruments. Visual instrument device mounted on the AUV creates 3D color reconstruction which shows the condition and the distribution of manganese crusts. Mounted acoustic instrument device is able to measure manganese crusts thickness. This paper describes the system and survey method of the AUV BOSS-A and survey results of sea trial for the demonstration of the manganese crust survey using the AUV. Survey results shows that manganese crusts with thickness of 15 to 45 mm are distributed at Katamaya sea mount. coustic instrument devices.