A long term vision for long-range ship-free deep ocean operations: persistent presence through coordination of Autonomous Surface Vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Christopher R. German, Micheal V. Jakuba, James C. Kinsey, Jim Partan, Stefano Suman, Abhimanyu Belani, and Dana R. Yoerger Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, MA 02543 Email: cgerman@whoi.edu Abstract—We outline a vision for persistent and/or long-range seafloor exploration and monitoring utilizing autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to conduct coordinated autonomous surveys. Three types of surveys are envisioned: a) Autonomous tending of deep-diving AUVs: deployed from a research vessel, the ASV would act as a force- multiplier, watching over the AUV to provide operators and scien- tists with real-time data and re-tasking capabilities, while freeing the ship to conduct other over-the-side operations; b) Ridge- segment-scale (100 km) autonomous hydrothermal exploration: combined with conventional gliders or long-endurance AUVs, an ASV could tend a fleet of underwater assets equipped with low- power chemical sensors for mapping hydrothermal plumes and locating seafloor hydrothermal venting. Operators would control the system via satellite, such that a support ship would be needed only for initial deployment and final recovery 1-2 months later; and c) Basin-scale (10,000 km) autonomous surveys: a purpose- built autonomous surface vessel (mother-ship) with abilities up to and including autonomous deployment, recovery, and re-charge of subsea robots could explore or monitor the ocean and seafloor on the oceanic basin scale at a fraction of the cost of a global- class research vessel. In this paper we outline our long term conceptual vision, discuss some preliminary enabling technology developments that we have already achieved and set out a road- map for progress anticipated over the next 2-3 years. We present an overview of the system architecture for autonomous tending along with some preliminary field work. I. I NTRODUCTION Half our planet is covered by deep ocean more than 3000m deep and most of it remains unexplored. For example, the South Pacific basin represents Earth’s largest deep ocean basin and the largest contiguous ecosystem for life on our planet, with a broad spectrum of habitats (Fig. 1), yet we know very little of what lives in its trenches, across its abyssal plains, around seamounts and along its mid-ocean ridges [1]. Where we have begun to explore and document, around the Ocean Margins, what has been established are that the South Pacific hosts biodiversity and evolutionary hotspots to both West and East (Fig. 2) yet vast expanses of the open ocean lack sufficient data to allow characterization, in between these hotspots [1]. From a different perspective, more than 30 years Fig. 2. HFI* map (www.coml.org) showing how biodiversity hot-spots to West and East in the South Pacific are separated by areas devoid of data. *HFI: Hurlbert’s First Index is a sample-size independent proxy for species richness. Here, colours (red = high) show predicted numbers of distinct species in a random sample of 50 observations; white: areas still awaiting collection of 50+ observations. after the discovery of venting, more than 80% of the world’s ridge crests remain completely unexplored for hydrothermal activity [2]. Following an international InterRidge workshop held in June 2010, UK, it was recommended that coordinated investigation of the South Atlantic become an immediate priority (Fig. 3), not least because a similar investigation of the South Pacific would requires a much greater burden of shiptime, following established exploration methodologies, and in at least some latitudes require a new technological approach [3]. Over the past decade, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have played increasingly important roles in seafloor studies in the deep ocean but the presence of a support ship