IEEE JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERING, VOL. OE-11, NO.

3, JULY 1986

373

A Deep ROV DOLPHIN 3K: Design and Performance Analysis

MASAO NOMOTO AND MUTSUO HATTORI

(Invited Paper)

Abstruct-DOLPHIN 3K is a. tethered remotely operated vehicle (ROW system for ocean bottom surveys down to a depth of 3300 m. The system will be completed in fiscal year 1986. This paper describes the design of the system, and analyzes the maneuverability of the vehicle and the transmission performance of the optical fiber data communication
system.

electro-optical (E/O) devices, which are very sensitive to temperature changes, is thereby avoided.

C.Low-Density Buoyant Material

New buoyant material developed for DOLPHIN 3K is composed of alumina ceramic macrospheres (100 mm in diameter) and syntactic foam [l]. Its specific gravity is 0.42 with collapse pressure higher than 50 MPa.

I. INTRODUCTION

OLPHIN 3K, a deep remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for ocean bottom surveys, is now under development at Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC). The depth capability of DOLPHIN 3K is 3300 m, 1300 m deeper than the maximum operating depth of SHINKAI 2000, and maximize the cost effectiveness of its underwater DOLPHIN 3K will be used for the reconnaissance surveys of the ocean bottom prior to the dive of SHINKAI 2000. One of the important missions of DOLPHIN 3K is to determine the most interesting diving site for detailed studies by SHINKAI 2000, and maximize the cost effeitiveness of its underwater operations, whose time duration is limited by the capacities of the batteries and the life support system. DOLPHIN 3K will also be used for studies of the ocean bottom where depths exceedthecapabilityofSHINKAI 2000, andwhereitis dangerous for a manned submersible to approach, such as near active volcanoes and steep cliffs. The following new technologiesare applied to the development of the DOLPHIN 3K system.

D. Stereo TV System TV pictures from two wide-angle monochromatic cameras placed at slightly different positions are combined to form set a of three-dimensional images. Synchronized TV signals from these cameras are alternately supplied to the CRT monitors. Pictures from the two cameras are separated again by stereo viewing glasses, and the operators can perceive the pictures as three dimensional. These technologies enhance the functions of ROV systems as remotely operated probes for the studies of the ocean bottom and as remotely operated work tools. Maneuverability of the vehicle, which is one of the most important factors in evaluating the performance of ROV systems, was analyzed with use of computer simulation techniques. The hydrodynamic characteristics of the vehicle, necessary for the simulations of motionsof the vehicle and the tether cable, were determined by hydrodynamic tests of a onequarter scale model. The analysis of the data transmission system of DOLPHIN A . The Use of an Optical Fiber Cable 3K in this paper is restricted to the evaluation of the transmission margins of the optical fiber data communication A thin andflexible tether cable which contains optical fibers system, which is thought to be the dominant parameter in the hasbeen developed. It can be used under severe loading system evaluation. conditions. B. High Data Rate Data Communication System All information including the video pictures from four TV cameras and image data from an obstacle avoidance sonar is digitized, multiplexed, and transmitted as optical signals via a single optical fiber line. The data rate of the uplink transmission to the surface ship is 386.64 MHz. This method allows the use of an optical rotary connector, and the installation of
Manuscript received February 2, 1986. Theauthorsare with the JapanMarine Science and Technology Center, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237, Japan. IEEE Log Number 8608927.

I I . DESIGN AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DOLPHIN 3K SYSTEM

The DOLPHIN 3K system consists of an underwater vehicle, a tether cable, a cable handling system, and a control console van (Fig. 1). The main characteristics of the DOLPHIN 3K system are shown in Table I.

A . TheVehicle
The vehicle is rectangular in shapeandcomposedofa titanium framework which encloses and supports all components. Buoyant material blocks are fixed on the top. Six hydraulic thrusters with shrouded propellers give the vehicle necessary maneuvering capabilities even under high slip

0364-9059/86/0700-0373$01 .OO O 1986 IEEE

374

IEEE JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERING,VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY

3'3.1rn9 Dower l i n e

1986

P o w

Ilne

Insulator ODticoi f i b e r un

acket

tension member
sheath

W Fig. 2. Structure ofthe test cable.

TABLE I I
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TEST CABLE

(1) Number optical of fibers (2) Type of optical fiber (3) Diameter of optical fiber core (4) Diameter of optical fiber unit (5) Resistance power of line

(6) Inner and outer jacket Kevlar (7) member Tension (8) Outer diameter (9) Specific gravity (10) Breaking strength

four Graded Index 50 pm 7.2 mm 3.38 Qlkm (3 phase) 28.8 Qllrm (1 phase) Ethylene Propylene Rubber
49

30 mm 1.25 greater than 16.5 tonnes ( - 162 kN)

Fig. 1. DOLPHIN 3K system.

TABLE I
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF DOLPHIh' 3K

B. The Tether Cable and the Data Transmksion System AU power is supplied via an E/O tether cable shown in Fig. 2. The cable consists of three main conductors for the induction motor, four subconductors for electronics, sensors, and the TV lights, an optical fiber unit which contains four optical fiber lines, Kevlar strength members, and theinner and outer sheaths. These sheaths protect the cable from water (7) Instrumentation intrusion and cutting. The outer diameterofthe cable is 30 mm. The characteristics of the cable are given in Table I I . Commandand data signals for transmission betweenthe vehicleand the surface ship are digitized, transformed to optical signals, and transmitted via one of four optical fiber (8) Navigation equipment lines, using two wavelengths: 830 nm for the downlink and 1300 nm for the uplink (Fig. 3). The data rate of the uplink transmission is 400 Mbit/s. Although this is higher than the required rate for transmitting the data from the vehicle, provision for future application of the high-definition TV conditions. A seven-degree-of-freedom master-slave manipu- system is considered. This method uses only one optical fiber lator and a five-degree-of-freedom joystick controlled grabber line, and allows the use of an optical rotary connector are mounted onthe front of the vehicle, and stowed within the (maximum number of optical rotary connector is two). Thus frame of the vehicle during search and observationtasks. Two installationof E/O devices which are very sensitive to the
3kn 2101 1.5 kn lkn electrohydraulic motor 2 thrusters fore-aft 2 thrusters vertical lateral 2 thrusters color TV, low light monochromatic stereo TV, TV lights, 35-mm still camera CTDV sensors, current meter, bilateral servo manipulator (7 degrees of freedom), grabber (5 degrees of freedom) obstacle avoidance sonar, acoustic direction finder, altitude sonar depthometer, gyrocompass, altitude sensor, angular velocimeter

(1) Dimension (2) Weight (3) Maximum operational depth (4) Payload (5) Speed forward backward lateral up and down (6) Thrusters

3 m(L) x 2 m(W) X 2 m(H) 3300 kg ( i n a i r ) and - 10 kg (inwater) 3300 m 150 kg ( m a )

monochromatic low light level TV cameras provide stereoscopic view to enhance the perceptions of the observers and give precise information of the object size and location. A color TV camera (l-in image tube) together with an optical fiber data communication system provides high-quality (400 horizontal TV lines) TV pictures. Hydraulicpower for the thrusters, pan and tilt u n i t s of cameras and lights, a manipulator, and a grabber is generated by a hydraulic pump driven by an oil-filled induction motor.

NOMOTO AND HATTORI: DEEP ROV "DOLPHIN 3K"

375
r
I
I
I

TV CAMERA 1

-o*mGy
?

r----------

---- -

I
I

I I I
I

lV CAMERA 3
TV CAMERA 4

m 1
DP
'

LPF

COD

I I
, I

Fig. 3. DOLPHIN 3K datatransmissionsystem.

TABLE III
OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

1) UPLINK Signals a)

TV signals (4 Frequency ch)band

OAS (1 ch)

60 Hz to 6 MHz, S/N 48 dB
Frequency band Frequency band 900 kbit/s
50 kHz to 1 MHz, S/N 50 dB 100 Hz to 20 kHz, S/N 45 dB

rate

PD

(vehicle)

Hydrophone (1 ch) (200 byte) status vehicle b) PCM transmission Optical source Source power Ge-APD (on board) Optical receiver power receiving Minimum Bit Sampling frequency TV Color) (NTSC bit-A/D OAS Hydrophone Status data 2) DOWNLINK a) Signals OAS (1 ch) Command data (200 byte) b) PCM Transmission Optical source Source power receiver Optical Minimum power receiving Sampling frequency OAS Command data

1.3-pm wavelength LD - 7 dB -39 dB 386.64 Mbit/s

10

14.32 MHz, 8 bit-A/D 4.77 MHz, 0.513 MHz, 8 bit-A/D 900 kbit/s
Frequency band 50 kHz-1 MHz 900 kbit/s

0.85-pm wavelength LD - 4 dB

- 46 dB
4.77 MHz, 10 bit A/D 900 kbit/s

determined from the estimatedmaximumamplitude of the heavingmotionofthe surface ship atsea state of 4. The motion of theram tensioner isalways monitored, and the spring constantisautomaticallyselected so that it operates C. The Cable Handling System around the center of the stroke. The traction winch is used to The cable handling system consists of a ram tensioner, a store the cable on the cable winch under constant small tension traction winch, a constant tension cable winch, and a gimbal (about 1000 N). To keep the tension constant, the cable winch suspension sheave. The stroke of the ram tensioner wasautomatically follows themotionsof the traction winch. The

change of environmental temperature and O/E devices on the cable winch can be avoided. The characteristics of the data transmission system are shown in Table III.

. .

. -.

. ..

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IEEE JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERING, VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY 1986

1
500

-3ll-lB2--(

BOO

Fig. 4. Initially designed vehicle model.

cableiscooled by seawater, sprinkled in the cable winch.vehicle. The damping coefficients ofthe rotational motions These equipments are operated from the control console, as were also obtained in this series of tests. well as from the deck side controller. A . Static Hydrodynamic Tests and Hydrodynamic D. The Modifications Console Control Vehicle of the The vehicle is controlled from the control console, housed in a container house. Two operators, a vehicle pilotanda manipulatorkable winch operator, control the systemand perform the tasks. The positions of the operators are somewhat similar to those of airplane pilots or car drivers. Seven CRT monitors are mounted on the control console. The main monitors for the pilot and the manipulator operator are 20-in highquality color (line resolution is 550) CRT, and three 14-in and three 6-in CRTs are used for auxiliary monitors. The distribution of the video signals, i.e., TV pictures from the vehicle and from ondeck cameras, and graphically displayed vehicle status data such as depth, attitude, and position relative to the surface ship can be selected by the operators. The mock-up of the control console was constructed for the layout planning. The initially designed shape of the vehicle is shown in Fig.
4. The frame of the vehicle is made of rectangular pipes and

III. HYDRODYNAMIC CHARACTER~S~CS OF THE VEHICLE The configuration of the vehicle is of an open-frame type
with buoyant material on its top. The flow around a vehicle of this type is complex, ind it is difficult to estimate its hydrodynamic characteristics by calculations. So, hydrodynamic tests were conducted to determine the derivatives which are necessary for the evaluations of the maneuverability. Two series of tests were performed. The first series consists of static hydrodynamic tests in which hydrodynamic derivatives due to the translational motions at constant velocities, such as drag coefficient, moment coefficient, etc., were obtained. In the second series, Planar MotionMechanism (PMM) [2] was used to obtain the hydrodynamic coefficients due to the accelerations and angular accelerations of the

the buoyant material is rectangularly shaped with sharply cut corners. The tests were carried out in the circulating water channel in M i t s u i Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., L t d . The model used was a one-quarter scale model. Force and moment exerted on the model were measured by a six-component spring balance mounted on the model. The body coordinate system, origin of which is fixed to the center of gravity, is shown in Fig. 5. As the results of the preliminary tests showed, there is no dependence of the hydrodynamic Coefficients on the Reynolds number within the velocity range from 0.4 to 0.8 m / s ; the test speed was determined to 0.8 m/s from the consideration of the capacity of the load cell. The Reynolds number was 3.44 X lo5based on V I 3 , where Vis the volume within theenvelope of the model. Force andmoment were measured, varying the attitude (angle of attack, angle of yaw, and angle of bank) of the model relative to the flow direction. The drag coefficients of the model in the six directions of motion (positive and negative directions along X, Y,and 2 axes) shown in Table IV were all larger than the expected values. Then, it was decided to modify the shape of the vehicle to refine the hydrodynamic coefficients. The frame members of rectangular cross section were replaced by those of circular cross section, and the shape of the buoyant material was modified (Fig. 6 ) . As shown in Table V, drag coefficients of the modified model in all directions were reduced, and especially in upward direction it dropped about 50 percent. Attitude dependences of the

NOMOTO AND HATTOM: DEEP ROV DOLPHIN 3 K

377
U

- x

(x-Y P M )

(z-x

P M )

Fig. 5. Body coordinate system.

Fig. 6 . M o d i f i e d vehicle shape. (Corners of the buoyant material were rounded, and rectangular tubes were replaced by circular tubes.)

TABLE lV
DRAGCOEFFICIENTS OF THE INITIAL MODEL (U = 0.8 d s ) Forward 0.877 Backward 0.914 Left 1.218
Right

Upward 2.024

Downward 1.999

1.186

TABLE V DRAGCOEFFICIENTS OF THE MODIFIED MODEL (U = 0.8 m/s) Forward 0.673 Backward 0.743

Left
0.981

Right 0.974

Upward

Downward

0.809

1.582

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VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY I986

c i(deg)

Fig. 7. Longitudinal hydrodynamiccharacteristics of the vehicle.

1.5 2'o

i
t
1
Fig. 8. Lateral hydrodynamiccharacteristics of the vehicle.

-1.0
-1.5

-2.0

where [Mij] is the basic inertia matrix of the vehicle, [Aij]is the added inertia matrix, & and ! I o are the velocity and angular velocity of the vehicle, respectively, and U Ris the velocity of the vehicle relative to the fluid. A dot symbolabove a quantity B. Dynamic Tests The model was tested in a towt a n k with use of PMM. Force symbol expresses the partial differentiation with respect to and moment coefficients due to the accelerations and angular time. Generally, 36 added massesexist. However, from hydrodyaccelerations of thevehicle were obtained in this series of namic symmetry, Aij = Aji [3], and if the shape of the vehicle tests. These coefficients were called added masses (including is geometrically symmetric or is nearly symmetric, corresadded moments of inertia and cross coupling terms such as ponding added masses become nearly zero or negligibly small force coefficients due to angular accelerations). (e.g. <0.01). As DOLPHIN 3K is roughly symmetric with Force F I and momentMIdue to the acceleration and angular respect to X-Z and Y-2 planes, all but the following eight acceleration of the vehicle are written in the body coordinate components can be neglected: system as

hydrodynamic characteristics of the modified model are shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

(1)

These eight values, as well as the damping coefficients of the rotational motions about three axes X,Y , 2 were obtained in the dynamic tests. The results were listed in Table VI.

NOMOTO AND HATTORI: DEEP ROV DOLPHIN 3K

379
TABLE VI
DYNAMIC DERIVATIVES OF THE VEHICLE

(1) Added Mms Coefficients

0.07
~

negligible

0.077

negligible

0.131

0.08

0.123

0.085

(2) Damping Coefficients of Rotational Motions

0.133

0.288

0.243

IV. MANEUVERABILITY OF THE VEHICLE

[ARTIT= transpose matrix of [ A R T ] A44 A45 A46 5 5 A56 [ A R ] = A54 A (A64 A65 A66)

A . Equations of Motion of the Vehicle To avoid the complexity in expressing the full six-degreeof-freedom equations of motion, the equations are written in the vector form, as shown below.
Translational Motion:

[MTI~+[A~]~R+{[MRT]*+[ART]}~
+ox{[MT1~+[Arl~R+([MRTIT+[ARTIT)o}=~

ff and L are the external force and moment exerted on the vehicle; m, 1, and J are the mass, moment of inertia, and product of inertia of the vehicle; and X,Y , Z are coordinates of the center of gravity in the body coordinate system.

B. External Forces and Moment

The external force ff is given as the sum of the hydrodynamic force FF, gravitational force FG, thrust ff T , and the tension of the tether cable ffcat the cable termination point.

(2)

Rotational Motion:
[MRTI~+[ARTI~R+([MRI+[ARI}~

+ 0 x {[MRTI + [ A R TU ] R+ ( [ M R + ] [ARI)~}
+~x{[M,19+[M,,1=~}+~~X([A,~]~-)X

F= f f F +

FG+

F:T+Fc
(4)
i= 1

N =?FfFB++W+C f f T j + F c

+[ART]Tg}=L
where

(3)

where FB is the buoyancy, ff w is the weight of the vehicle, f f ~ is i the thrust of the ith thruster, and N is the number of thrusters. The external moment is given similarly as
!!a=LF+LG+LT+LC +LF+WBxFB+RWXffw
N
N

i= 1

i=l

where RB, WW,WTj, and Wc are position vectors ofthe center ofbuoyancy, center of gravity, the ith thruster, and cable termination point relative to the origin of the body coordinate system, respectively, as shown in Fig. 9. LE is the moment due to torque of the ith thruster. It mustbenotedthat as moment coefficients are derived from the steady-state hydrodynamic tests, they include the moment terms U R X [AT]&!jR which appeared in the equation ofrotationalmotion. Thus these terms must be dropped. Magnitudes of thrust and moment due to the ith thruster are written as

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380

IEEE JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERING, VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY 19%

Fig. 1 0 . Simulation model of thetethercable.

Fig. 11. Forces on the ith concenh-ated mass.

Fig. 9. Externalforces and moments on the vehicle.

position vector from Xi to Xi+ and 1,; is the natural length of the ith cylinder. The external force 5 on the cable is described in the following section.

where ni and Di are rotation speed (rps) and diameter, and KTi D. External Forces on the Cable and KQi are the thrust and torque coefficients of the ith The external force on the ith mass is thought to be the sum thruster. of the gravitational force FGi, which includes the buoyancy force, and halves the hydrodynamic forces on the ith and C. Equation of Motion o f the Tether Cable (i - 1)th cylinders ITH and 5fi-1: Several kinds of computation methods are available for the study of underwater cable dynamics [4]. Some of them treat 1 IS;=- (Ffi+F:~i-l)+F~i. (8) the cable as continuous. In this case the equations must be 2 converted to discrete elements mathematically, with use of a method such as the Finite Difference Method. Other methods The exact nature of the hydrodynamic force on cables is not model the cable as composed of cable elements of finite known, and many kinds of formulation models are proposed [5]. As the analysis is three dimensional, we derived the threelengths. The methodweused is called the LumpedMass Method, in which the cable is modeledas a chain of extendable dimensional formulation of hydrodynamic force in the vector but unbending weightless cylinders of finite lengths, and form as follows. Hydrodynamic force is resolved into normal masses of the cylinders are thought to be concentrated at the andtangential components. Each componentisassumed to joints (Fig. 10). The joints are treated as completely flexible in depend only onthe velocity component in thatdirection (Fig. our model. Now the equation of motion is derived for the ith 12). Now hydrodynamic force on the ith cylinder is written as concentrated mass as

=Ui-Uj-l+Fi,

for i = l to M-1

(6)

where p is the density of the seawater, di is the diameter of the where and [ A ] ;are the basic inertia matrix of the ith ith cylinder, and C, and C, are the normal and tangentialdrag concentrated massand the added inertia matrix of the ith coefficients of the cable. U l n j and Uti are the normal and cylinder. X i is the position of the ith mass. Ui is the tension in tangential componentsof the flow velocityto the ith cylinder, the ith cylinder (Fig. 11). As the magnitude of tension in the calculated from the following equations: cable is proportional to extension of the cable, it can be expressed as

[mi

where E is the Youngs modulus of the cable and Si is the sectional area of the ith cylinder. Wi( =Xi+l - Xi) is the

where & ! J c is the velocity ofwater current relative to the earth.

NOMOTO AND HATTOM: DEEP ROV DOLPHIN 3K

38 1

Fig. 12. Hydrodynamicforce on the itb cylindricalcableelement.

yw
Z

Fig. 14. Lower boundary condition. Position of the lower end of the tether cable XM is determined from the position and the attitude of the vehicle, which are obtained as solutions of (2) and (3).

I
8

I
I

Fig. 13. Upper boundary condition. Position of the upper end of the tether cable is given as a known function of time.

E. Boundary Conditionsfor the Calculations of Cable Dynamics

The boundary conditions are given at the upper and lower end of the cable. As we assume that the ship motion is known, the position of the upper end ofthe cable &, = Xact) is givenas afunction of time (Fig. 13). At the lower end, cable is connected to the vehicle. As the position of the cable termination point in the body coordinate system is Rc (Fig. 14), the velocity of the lower end of the cable is given as
X.M=r!!I++cXO.

(10)

Now M - 1 equations of motion of the concentrated masses (6) and equations of motion of the vehicle (2) and (3) can be solved for given oceanic conditions and ship motions.

Diameter 30 mm Weight in water 1.87 N/m Normal drag 1.2 coefficient (C,,) Tangential drag 0.01 coefficient (CJ Youngs modulus 1.372 X 1OO N/m2 Added mass coefficients tangential: 0 ( = added mass/p Vc, normal: 1 where Vc is the volume of the cable) The vehicle Weight in air 300 34 N Buoyancy 393 34 N Volume the within 9.66 m 3 vehicle envelope ( V ) Positions of the external force action a) Cable tension Rc=(;2)=( -0.28 0 m

-0.91 m

F. Footprints of the Vehicle

The footprint of the vehicle is defined as the outer boundary of the operational area of the vehicleon the ocean floor under given operational conditions [3]. Equilibrium positions of the vehicle are given as solutions of (2), (3),and (6) for @ = I ! j I= Bi = 0 and U = o = %i = 0 for i = 1 to M . Because of the limited capacity of the hydraulic power supply, all thrusters cannot be operated simultaneously at full powers. Therefore hydraulic power management is required to optimize the footprint. Some of the results obtained for vehicle operations at the depth of 3300 m both with and without adepressor are presented. The cable and vehicle parameters are as follows.
1)

b) Center of gravity

Rw=(
c) Center of buoyancy

:E)=(
=

-0.1 m

E.03 m)

R B = ( 2 ) = ( -0.37 0 m m) -0.1 .
Thruster parameters Diameters

The tether cable (maximum) Length

5000 m

Dl = 4 D3 = D4 DS = 0 6

= 0.428 m

0.375 m

= 0.35 m

..

~.

. . .

. .

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IEEE JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGmERING, VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY 1986

Maximum torque

Torque coefficients (&)

L1 = L2 L3 = L4 L5 = L6 KQ1 = KQz

121.8 N - m 62.33 N-m = 53.6 N - m = 0.044-0.015

= =
J

(forward) 0.395 -0.225

J
(backward)

K B = Kp4 KQs = K B
Thrust coefficients ( K T )

= 0.027 = 0.027

(downward) = 0.023 (upward) K n = K T ~ = 0.52-0.6 X J (forward) = 0.4-0.6 X J (backward) K7-3 = K T ~ = 0.37 K n = KT6 = 0.37 (downward) = 0.27 (upward)

Fig. 15. Thruster numbers and their positions and orientations.

where J( = 1 URl/nD) is the advance ratio of thevehicle relative to the fluid. Thruster numbers and their positions are shown in Fig. 15, and their values are listed below.

the vehicle reaches the bottom within the maximum length. Operational restrictions are also imposed on the calculations. Even though the vehicle could reach a certain point on the bottom, if the equilibrium attitude of the vehicle is not appropriate for operations, the vehicle is thought to be out of the operational area. Thus we use the following operational restrictions:

I Pitch angle I < 10" IRoll angle I < 10".

The results for vehicle operations withouta depressor are shown in. Figs. 17-22. Fig. 1 7 shows the cable catenaries for U D = 0. In these calculations, vertical thrust is kept at 500 N and forward thrust is varied from 0 to 3588 N. Side thruster is not used. Footprints for the corresponding current condition are shown in Fig. 18.Calculations were done for various parameter combinations, and the envelope curves of the 4) The depressor equilibrium positions ofthe vehicle are drawn. The results for water in Weight 600 N different UJD are shown in Figs. 17-22. Drag area 1.12 m2 When the ocean current is strong, or the vehicle is towed (reference area X drag coefficient) behind the surface ship faster than a certain speed, the vehicle Cable length between the depressor 300 m. cannot reachthe bottom withinthe limited cable length. When and the vehicle the cable is taut, motion of the surface ship strongly influences the vehicle, and in some cases, it would Calculations were done for the following conditions. It must the maneuverability of be emphasized thatthese conditions correspond to the ultimate be difficult or impossible to perform tasks. In such cases, a oceanic conditions, and usually, vehicle operations should be depressor is to be used. The depressor, in our calculations, is attached on the cable at about 300 m from the vehicle. The done under more moderate conditions: weight of the cable between the depressor and the vehicle is 1) Depth 3300 m neutralized by attaching the buoyant material blocks around 2) Current velocity distributions See next paragraph. the cable. The depressor can increase the maximum operaOcean current profiles are given with two parameters Us tional depth, and decouples the surface ship motion from the and UJD. The current velocity is assumed to decrease from Us vehicle. The cable catenaries and footprints for operations at surface to U Dat the depth of500 m (Fig. 16), and is constant with adepressor are shown inFigs. 23 and 24. In this case, the below 500 m. Current conditions and corresponding results deep current velocity %ID is 1 kn. As can be seen from these results, the use of the depressor can increase the maximum are listed in Table W. In these calculations, backward thrust is not used. So, if the operational depth. However, the operational area of the vehicle depends almost only the on length of the cable between fore-and-aft thrusters are reversed, footprints will extend the depressor and the vehicle. Usually, the cable between a further to the downstream direction. The cable is paid until

NOMOTO A N D HAlTORI: DEEP ROV "DOLPHIN 3K"

383

TABLE W
OCEAN CURRENT CONDITIONS AND CORRESPONDING RESULTS

Without With a depressor

a depressor lkll Fig. 21 Fig. 22

0 Fig. 17 Fig. 18

4kn 0.5 kn Fig. 19 Fig. 20

4kll lkll Fig. 23 Fig. 24

Fig. 16. Model of the ocean current profile.

XCm)
4

-1

-2

-3

-4+ 1G l " 7

3
1 soow
SOON

500N

Depth C m > = 3300

Max. an IeCdeg) Pi tch= ?0

*lY? N u E
Fig. 17. Tethercablecatenaries

(V, = 0).

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JEEE JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERLNG, VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY 1986

Deo th Cml= 3300 Max. ang 1 e (deg)

FTZ=SOON

P i t c h = 1Q R o l l = 6.185 Yau= 0

1OOON

, +

. , . ... ,.., .
I

I - . . . , . - - . ,

a , . .

I . . .

-1

-2

-3

-4*10"3
X(m)

I
-2

Fig. 18. Footprints of the vehicle (LID = 0 ) .

XCnll

-1

-2

-3

-4 * 1 W 3

* 10"3
N

4f

D e p t h C m > = 3300 Max. ang 1 e (deg) P i t c h = 18

Fig. 19. Tether cable catenaries (LID = 0.5 kn).

NOMOTO AND HATTORI: DEEP ROV "DOLPHIN 3K"

385

*109
r\

E "

x
. ."_..""..

.^^^..

yaw=

1
Fig. 20. Footprints of the vehicle (VD= 0.5 kn).

XCm)

-1

-2

-3

-4*10"3

"
N
I

Depth (m)= 3300 Max. a n g le (deg) P i t c h = 10

Fig. 21. Tether cable catenaries (UD = 1.0 k n ) .

.:-

. .

. .

.~

..

.. .

...

~.

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E E E JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERING, VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY 1986

* 10^3
3

f
i

DepthCrnl= 3300 Max. an leCdeg) P i t c h = 90 R o l l = 1.906

Yaw= 0

Fig. 22. Footprints of thevehicle (UD = 1.0 k n ) .

-I
-2

NOMOTO AND HA'ITORI: DEEP ROV "DOLPHIN 3K"

387
* 1D*3 :: 3: :
n v

.1
::
2 7:

2 .

D e p t h Cm)= 3300 ang I e ( d e g ) Pitch= 10 R o l l = 6.165 Yaw= 0

Max.

: .

T
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . , . I. .. .. .. .I . . . .

* . .. , ., " .' . 8 .. * . I .

0 ::

-3

-4 * 10*3
X Im>

-1 : :

-2

7:

Fig. 24. Footprints of the vehicle: operation with a depressor (UD= 1 .O kn).

depressor and a vehicle cannot be long enough that a vehicle has comparable operational areas to those withouta depressor. Thus the useof a depressor reduces the operational area of the vehicle in most cases.

cable and the vehicle are shown in Fig. 26. Fig. 27 shows the fluctuations of cable tensions when the vehicle keeps its position and attitude. As can be seen from this figure, if the vehicle is operated under these conditions, quick control of large thruster powers is required to keepthepositionand G . Influence of the Ship Motion on the Vehicle attitude of the vehicle. This seems not realistic. Therefore a Full equations of motion of the tether cable and the vehicle depressor should be used in these cases. However, it must be again that the calculations were done under must be solved to obtain the behavior of the vehicle and the emphasized cable in the time domain. Although the initial conditions for extremely severe oceanic conditions. the calculations (positions and velocities of M concentrated V. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA TRANSMISSION masses, attitude of the vehicle, translational androtational SYSTEM velocities of the vehicle at timer = 0) are somewhat arbitrary, the results from the equilibrium calculations were used as Oneof the mostdominant parameters in evaluating the initial values to save computation time. The position of the performance of an optical data transmissionsystem is the upper end of the cable was input as sinusoidal functions of transmission margin above the minimum signal level of the time, andthe responses ofthe cable andthevehicle were optical receiver at which the error rate can be keptbelow calculated. The calculations were done for the following Since DOLPHIN 3K uses the single optical fiber line operational conditions: system, allthe data gathered inthevehicle are digitized, transformed to serial data, and pulse code modulated (PCM). Amplitude of the 5 m (P - P) The data rate of the uplink transmission is 386.64 MHz, and ship heaving this is nearly the maximum data rate for 5000-m data Amplitude of the 5 m ( p - p ) in the transmission with a GI fiber (Fig. 28). The transmission current direction ship surging characteristics of an optical fiber for DOLPHIN 3K is shown Period 6s in Fig. 29. As can be seen from this figure, the transmisThrusts of the vehicle IFnl = IFrzl = 1265 N sion losses for 850and 1300-nm wavelengths are 2.7 and IF=( = IF761 = 800 N 0.7 &/h, respectively. The calculated transmission margins others: 0. are shown in Fig. 30. In these calculations, 3 and 1 d 3 l hare of the aboveThe oceanic conditions are the same as those in the footprint used for the transmission losses instead calculations with U = 1 k n . Although the equations are three mentioned values to obtain the safety side estimations. The dimensional, the above conditions are two dimensional. Thus transmission margins are estimated to be 20 dB for both uplink and downlink, the results are two dimensional. The difficulties in the application of optical fibers to Fig. 25 shows the tensions in the tether cable at the upper (ship side) and the lower (vehicle side) ends due to pure heave umbilical cable of ROV systems arise from extremely severe and pure surge motions of the surface ship. The motions of the loading conditions during the vehicle operations. The cable

388

IEEE JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERING, VOL. OE-11, NO,3, JULY 1986

l o.l
0. 10.

R.0.V

Side

Reaving --- Surging

Ship Slde
1

S.V.rStatic
85.

Value
! SO.

timefa)

80.

75.

Fig.25. Fluctuations of cable tensions at the upper and the lower ends due to
the motions of the surface ship.

R.O;V

mtioa

9.9deg

8.96deg

Fig. 26. Motions of the various points along the tether cableand the vehicle due to the. surging motion of the surface ship.

NOMOTO AND HATTOFU: DEEP ROV ''DOLPHIN 3 K '

389

100.

R.O.V.

Side

Heaving --- Surging

S h i p Side
0.

70.

75.

80.

85.

tilmfs)
90.

Fig. 27. Fluctuations of the cable tension when the position and the attitude of the vehicle are fixed.

-10

5 10 Trmlssion raw

2 I k

Fig. 28. Bandwidth characteristics of a typical optical transmission system with a GI optical fiber.

-30

-40

Wave length p m

Fig. 29. Transmission loss of a G I optical fiber used in the DOLPHIN 3K system.

Fig. 30. Level diagram of the optical transmission system i n DOLPHIN 3K.

..

3 90
3~3.15mnO Domr I 1 ne

E E E JOURNAL OF OCEANIC ENGINEERING, VOL. OE-11, NO. 3, JULY 1986

2.0

0.5

Fig. 31. Structure of the prototype tether cable. S i x optical fibers are contained in the cavity of the nylontube.They are twisted arounda steel wire.
0

1100

TENSION (t) Fig. 33. The typical result of the tensile test of the tethercable. Initial value of the optical transmission loss at zero tension is due mainly to the low optical source power.

I\

modified cable which was previously shown in Fig. 2. Various 7 kinds of tests were performed on the cable samples. Some of

the results are shown below. Fig. 32 shows the result of the hydrostatic pressure test. The cable was tested in the highpressure test vessel at JAMSTEC. A 100-m long cable was wound on a reel and instrumented with strain gauges to 3 measure both axial and circumferential strains under hydrostatic pressures. The optic signals were transmitted via one of four optical fibers through an optical connector, and returned back into another optical fiber at the end of the cable. The signal was taken outof the vessel through an optical connector m again andfed to the optical power meter. As canbe seen from Fig. 32, influence of the hydrostatic pressure on the transmission loss was not observed at pressures below 60 m a . The transmission loss began to increase at 60 MPa, and the increase was accelerated at higher pressure than 60 MPa. The pressure wasraised to the maximum (80 MPa)andthen lowered. The figure also shows the recovery of the transmission loss, and thisindicates that the optical fiber did notsustain fatal damages. Fig. 33 shows the typical result of the tensile test. The tensile strain of the cable increases almost linearly I with tension, and the cable broke at about 176 400 N 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 ~ 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 (18 tomes), while serious increase in the optical transmission WTRXTATIC MS3JE WU) loss was not observed. Results ofthe other tests such as cyclic Fig. 32. Hydrostatic pressure test of the tether cable. tension test, cyclic bending test, cyclic twisting test, etc. also assured the transmission margin of the system under normal operational conditions. A transmission test with a f u l l length suffers hydrostatic pressure, gravitational force, hydrody(5000 m) cable at sea was performed in April 1986. namic force, and inertial force due to the motions of the cable, the surface ship, and the vehicle. Simultaneous actions of these VI. CONCLUSIONS forces make the cable loading complex and heavily fluctuating. Moreover, the cable experiences large side pressure on 1) The full equations of combined motions of an ROV and a sheaves in the cable handling equipment. The prototype cable tether cable were derived, and the maneuverability of the (Fig. 31) was designed and tested [6]. It contains six optical vehicle was analyzed. fibers in thecavity of a nylon tube whichserves as a pressure2) The footprints of DOLPHIN 3K were calculated for resistant housing. The results of the test showed that under ultimate oceancurrent conditions. The results tell us that when hydrostatic pressure, the circumferential distributions of radial large operation area is desired, vehicle operation without a compression force on thenylon tube wasnot uniform, and depressor is advantageous, andwhen the ocean current is buckling occurred at about 40 MPa. To avoid this buckling strong, use of a depressor can increase the maximumoperating problem, a plastic spacer was inserted in the nylon tubein the depth; however, the operational area is reduced.

f l

NOMOTO AND HATTORI: DEEP ROV DOLPHIN 3 K

39 1
[5] M. J. Casarellaand M. Parsons, A survey of investigations on the configuration and motion of cable systems under hydrodynamic loading, Marine Tech. SOC.J., vol. 4, no. 4, Aug. 1970. [6] M. Nomoto,M. Hatton, and T. Aoki,Application of optical fibre cables to seabed survey, i n Proc. 0184 (Brighton, U.K.), Mar. 6-9, 1984, 0 1 3.5.

3) When the vehicle must be operated with a taut tether cable because of strong ocean current, and tasks require precise keeping of position andattitude of the vehicle, use of a depressor which decouples the surface ship motion from the vehicle will improve the maneuverability of the vehicle. 4) Transmission margin of the optical fiber data transmission system for DOLPHIN 3K was calculated, based on the transmission characteristics of the test cable developed for the tether cable of DOLPHIN 3K. 5 ) The results of the tensile test and the hydrostatic test of the tether cable proved that the cable has enough mechanical strength to protect delicate optical fiber lines against severe loads during the vehicle operations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors appreciate Y. Kadomoto of Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. andH. Ishidera of Mitsui Ocean Developmentand Engineering Co., Ltd. for their helpin preparing the manuscript.

*
Masao Nomoto received the B.S. degree in aeroin applied physicsfrom nautics and the M.S. degree n 1971 and 1973, respectively. Kyushu University i After that he joined Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, Yokosuka, Japan, where he is presently an Assistant Senior Scientist in the Deep Sea Technology Department. He is engaged in research and development of remotely operated vehicles. M r . Nomoto is a member of the Society of Naval Architects of Japan.

*
Mutsuo Hattori received the B.S. and Dr. Science degrees from Tohoku University in 1962 and 1967, respectively. was Lecturer a at From 1969 to 1972 he also a InternationalChristianUniversityandwas Research Staff Member of the Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. He is currently a Senior Scientist in the Deep S e a TechnologyDepartmentatJapanMarineScienceand Technology Center, Yokosuka, Japan. His interests are in the application of remotely operated vehicles
to marine geological research. Dr. Hattori is a member of theGeologicalSociety Oceanographical Society of Japan.

REFERENCES

M. Hattori, K. Takahashi, and Y. Kadomoto, Present status of ROVs

in JAMSTEC, in Proc. ROV85 (San Diego, CA), Apr. 2-4, 1985,

pp. 126-132. T. B. Booth and R. E. D. Bishop, The planar motion mechanism, Admiralty Experimental Works, 0 Crown Copyright 1973. L. Landweber, Motion of immersed and floating bodies, i n Handbook of Fluid Dynamics, V. Streeter, Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961. Y. Chooand M. J. Casarella, Survey of analyticalmethodsfor dynamic simulation of cable-body system, J. Hydronautics, vol. 7, no. 4, Oct. 1973.

of Japanandthe