Project NARWHAL - Nautical Autonomous Robot for Wire Hunting through Analysis and Localization

NARWHAL (Nautical Autonomous Robot for Wire Hunting through Analysis and Localization) is a project I led at my internship with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. This project seeks to design an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to chart subsea power and communication cables. A survey of existing research into the magnetic fields and geometric properties utilized by other researchers to localize cables based off magnetometer readings informed the selection of sensors and data fusion algorithms for NARWHAL. Conversations with JHUAPL ocean engineering and undersea warfare subject matter experts informed the selection of an underwater glider platform. This project also included the construction of a SeaGlide AUV, the prototyping of a sensor rig including barometers, magnetometers, and accelerometers, and the design of a filtering algorithm to estimate cable position from sensor measurements. Efforts to date include the implementation and testing of an above-water, single-magnetometer algorithm and significant milestones in the construction of the AUV. Future work includes finalization of the prototype, augmentation with additional control surfaces for navigation, fusion of multiple magnetometer readings to expedite localization, design of an intuitive user interface for increased accessibility, and testing of underwater cable localization.