Page 22: of Marine Technology Magazine (May/Jun 2013)

In addition to providing signiÞ cantly higher resolution im- aging, AUV-mounted instruments also improve data quality by operating in a much lower-noise environment than their surface ship counterparts. Unlike surface ships, ABYSS is able to maintain a constant altitude for the duration of a mis-sion, and is not affected by surface phenomena like chop, wake, near-surface bubble entrainment, and swell. While onboard the support vessel or surfaced nearby, engi- neers can program and control the vehicle using the AUVÕs Vehicle Interface Program (VIP), which is provided by Hy- droid and is standard across the REMUS AUV line. The VIP software allows users to perform quality control checks, ex- port data from a previous mission and program the AUV for future deployments. The software runs on a waterproof, rug- gedized laptop, allowing it to be moved around the support vessel and not be damaged in severe weather. A suite of navigation tools, both onboard ABYSS and its support vessel, allow the AUV to safely operate at depth. The AUVÕs on-board Kearfott T-24 Inertial Navigation System (INS) and Teledyne RDI 300kHz ADCP/DVL are the back- bone of its navigation suite. ABYSS can also receive addi- tional support during its mission from a Long Baseline (LBL) Hydrographic Survey 22 MTRMay 2013MTR #4 (18-33).indd 22MTR #4 (18-33).indd 225/6/2013 10:53:02 AM5/6/2013 10:53:02 AM