Long-Range AUV (LRAUV) OverviewTeamPublicationsLatest News The Long Range AUV (LRAUV) was designed from scratch to fill a need for a mobile underwater robot that could observe upper ocean processes for up to one month, and be operate-able by a typical science lab. MBARI researchers launch the long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Tethys from the research vessel Paragon in Monterey Bay. This AUV travels through the water without direct control from shore, collecting information about the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the surrounding seawater. LRAUVs have been used for over 36,000 hours of offshore across a fleet of eight vehicles and about one half of MBARI scientists now routinely use the LRAUV. A unique ultra-low energy transit mode allows the LRAUVs to be operated without a support ship, while still supporting high power payloads like mapping sonars and inertial navigation systems. Interchangeable payloads have been developed for microbial sampling, bioluminescence, active bio-acoustic imaging, water sampling, plankton imaging and multi-beam mapping (WHOI). An open-source dynamic simulator along with a backseat computer system facilitate custom application development and testing. A novel offshore battery recharging station is being developed for the LRAUV to extend deployments to six months or more. The team has exported the system to the University of Hawaii and Woods Hole Oceanographic so far and is working on a way to make them available soon. Team Directory Brett Hobson Senior Mechanical Engineer Principal Investigator & Project Manager Brian Kieft Senior Software Engineer Project Engineer Jon Erickson Senior Mechanical Engineer Tom O’Reilly Senior Software Engineer Rob McEwen Control System Engineer Carlos A. Rueda Senior Software Engineer Brent Jones Electrical Engineer Denis Klimov Electrical Engineer Paul Roberts Electrical Engineer Erik Trauschke Autonomous Systems Operations Manager Christopher Wahl LRAUV Lead Operations Engineer Francisco P. Chavez Senior Scientist/Biological Oceanographer Yanwu Zhang Senior Research Engineer Kelly Benoit-Bird Senior Scientist & Science Chair Christopher A. Scholin President and Chief Executive Officer Steven Haddock Senior Scientist/Marine Biologist Monique Messié Senior Research Specialist John Ryan Senior Research Specialist Kakani Katija Principal Engineer Projects All Projects Sorry, no results were found. Publications All Publications Zhang, Y., N. Yoder, B. Kieft, A. Kukulya, B.W. Hobson, S. Ryan, and G.G. Gawarkiewicz. 2022. Autonomous tracking of salinity-intrusion fronts by a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 47(4): 950–958. https://doi.org/10.1109/JOE.2022.3146584 Truelove, N.K., N.V. Patin, M. Min, K.J. Pitz, C.M. Preston, K.M. Yamahara, Y. Zhang, B. Y. Raanan, B. Kieft, B. Hobson, L.R. Thompson, K.D. Goodwin, and F.P. Chavez. 2022. Expanding the temporal and spatial scales of environmental DNA research with autonomous sampling. Environmental DNA, 4(4): 972–984. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.299 Zhang, Y., B. Kieft, B.W. Hobson, B.Y. Raanan, S. Urmy, K.J. Pitz, C.M. Preston, B. Roman, K.J. Benoit-Bird, J.M. Birch, F.P. Chavez, and C.A. Scholin. 2021. Persistent sampling of vertically migrating biological layers by an autonomous underwater vehicle within the beam of a seabed-mounted echosounder. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 46: 497–508. https://doi.org/10.1109/JOE.2020.2982811 Zhang, Y., J.P. Ryan, B.W. Hobson, B. Kieft, A. Romano, B. Barone, C.M. Preston, B. Roman, B.Y. Raanan, D. Pargett, M. Dugenne, A.E. White, F. Henderikx Freitas, S. Poulos, S.T. Wilson, E.F. DeLong, D.M. Karl, J.M. Birch, J.G. Bellingham, and C.A. Scholin. 2021. A system of coordinated autonomous robots for Lagrangian studies of microbes in the oceanic deep chlorophyll maximum. Science Robotics, 6: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abb9138 Zhang, Y., B. Kieft, B. Hobson, J.P. Ryan, B. Barone, C.M. Preston, B. Roman, B.Y. Raanan, R. Marin III, T.C. O'Reilly, C.A. Rueda, and D. Pargett. 2019. Autonomous tracking and sampling of the deep chlorophyll maximum layer in an open-ocean eddy by a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 45(4): 1308–1321. https://doi.org/10.1109/JOE.2019.2920217 Latest News All News News Nimble autonomous robots help researchers explore the ocean, no ship required Behind the Scenes 02.09.23 News Long-range autonomous underwater vehicle completes 150th mission News 08.28.19 News MBARI robots cruise Lake Erie looking for toxic algae News 08.26.19 Technologies All Technologies Sorry, no results were found. Data All Data Sorry, no results were found.
Zhang, Y., N. Yoder, B. Kieft, A. Kukulya, B.W. Hobson, S. Ryan, and G.G. Gawarkiewicz. 2022. Autonomous tracking of salinity-intrusion fronts by a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 47(4): 950–958. https://doi.org/10.1109/JOE.2022.3146584
Truelove, N.K., N.V. Patin, M. Min, K.J. Pitz, C.M. Preston, K.M. Yamahara, Y. Zhang, B. Y. Raanan, B. Kieft, B. Hobson, L.R. Thompson, K.D. Goodwin, and F.P. Chavez. 2022. Expanding the temporal and spatial scales of environmental DNA research with autonomous sampling. Environmental DNA, 4(4): 972–984. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.299
Zhang, Y., B. Kieft, B.W. Hobson, B.Y. Raanan, S. Urmy, K.J. Pitz, C.M. Preston, B. Roman, K.J. Benoit-Bird, J.M. Birch, F.P. Chavez, and C.A. Scholin. 2021. Persistent sampling of vertically migrating biological layers by an autonomous underwater vehicle within the beam of a seabed-mounted echosounder. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 46: 497–508. https://doi.org/10.1109/JOE.2020.2982811
Zhang, Y., J.P. Ryan, B.W. Hobson, B. Kieft, A. Romano, B. Barone, C.M. Preston, B. Roman, B.Y. Raanan, D. Pargett, M. Dugenne, A.E. White, F. Henderikx Freitas, S. Poulos, S.T. Wilson, E.F. DeLong, D.M. Karl, J.M. Birch, J.G. Bellingham, and C.A. Scholin. 2021. A system of coordinated autonomous robots for Lagrangian studies of microbes in the oceanic deep chlorophyll maximum. Science Robotics, 6: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abb9138
Zhang, Y., B. Kieft, B. Hobson, J.P. Ryan, B. Barone, C.M. Preston, B. Roman, B.Y. Raanan, R. Marin III, T.C. O'Reilly, C.A. Rueda, and D. Pargett. 2019. Autonomous tracking and sampling of the deep chlorophyll maximum layer in an open-ocean eddy by a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 45(4): 1308–1321. https://doi.org/10.1109/JOE.2019.2920217
News Nimble autonomous robots help researchers explore the ocean, no ship required Behind the Scenes 02.09.23