Advanced Underwater Port Security Systems

Due to the events of September-11-2001 the U.S. Coast Guard has requested and received from the Office of Naval Research the approval to change the focus of the original proposal from autonomous ship detection to the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles AUV for Port Security operations. This decision was approved in mid March-2002 and work commenced in the beginning of April- 2002. Additionally, the Coast Guard has specified the use of 12-34 diameter vehicles to support the Port Security efforts. These changes will require considerable modification to the instrumentation payloads as well as vehicle capabilities in order to perform more complex surveys. Our goal is to create an AUV that can scan underwater surfaces ship hulls, docks, etc. to detect anomalies, consistently and efficiently, so that large volumes of traffic can be routinely inspected for security risks. By clearing ships quickly and pinpointing the location of suspicious features in need of manual inspection, delays will be reduced while significantly increasing Port Security.