A self-sustaining autonomous system for long-term Arctic monitoring

Long-term observation and data collection are necessary to understand the impact of the accelerated melting of Arctic sea ice on marine ecosystems in the Arctic. However, traditional ocean observation methods that rely on fixed or drifting buoy stations can only sparsely observe distributed locations. Furthermore, studies by drones and Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) are restricted by range and duration due to their limited onboard energy. In this study, we propose and investigate a conceptual design for a Self-sustaining Autonomous System (SAS) to address these challenges. The system combines Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and AUV technologies on a Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) platform. We chose a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH), driven by wind power through its sail, as the support platform for the self-sustaining system because of its superior stability and structural design advantages. As the wind-driven SWATH moves through the ocean, a turbine installed underwater between the hulls will produce sufficient energy for onboard sensors and mission support. This study aims to conduct a feasibility study on the proposed conceptual design scheme and calculate the primary parameters associated with design components to verify the feasibility of the overall project. The results indicate that using the motion of a wind-driven sailboat to generate power from the turbine beneath the SWATH to support the long-term Arctic Ocean monitoring mission is feasible. As a self-sustaining platform, wind energy and marine current energy will be applied in this design to achieve the purpose of long-term monitoring in the Arctic Ocean. A dimensionless formula has been developed to estimate the minimum sail area required for varying sizes of SWATH in combination with a wind-driven power system. • Autonomous Arctic Ocean monitoring with integrated UAV, AUV, and USV. • Conceptional design of wind-driven SWATH platform. • Self-sustaining energy generation with an underwater turbine. • Determination of sail area requirement for a SWATH. • Feasibility of the design elucidated by CFD and validated for a typical condition.