SUNFISH®: A Human-Portable Exploration AUV for Astrobiology
Investigations in Complex 3D Environments
Abstract
Stone Aerospace is developing the SUNFISH® autonomous underwater vehicle
(AUV) which addresses many of the challenges of remote, autonomous
exploration in unstructured environments such as the Ocean Worlds of the
outer Solar System. The descendant of larger AUVs developed at Stone
Aerospace (e.g. the NASA-funded DEPTHX, ENDURANCE, and ARTEMIS
vehicles), SUNFISH is miniaturized, person-portable,
six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) hovering vehicle with built-in precision
navigation and control, multibeam mapping, imaging, and CTD
capabilities. It was designed to be a highly-capable platform for
operating in a wide variety of complex 3D spaces, ranging from man-made
(e.g. piers) to natural (e.g. reefs, caves, and under ice). Building on
these base functionalities, we have developed high-level capabilities
for performing simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM),
exploration, path planning, and precision return home and docking. We
describe these capabilities, and present a demonstration in the
unstructured labyrinthine 3D environment of Peacock Springs in Florida,
USA. SUNFISH and its technologies have direct application in several
astrobiology-relevant goals, including furthering exploration and life
search strategies for Ocean Worlds, as well as enabling Earth-analog
fieldwork in structurally complex, remote aqueous environments such as
caves, under ice shelves, or in sub-glacial lakes.