Reefs, rigs, and wrecks: The 2009 field season of deep-water archaeology in the Gulf of Mexico

Church, Robert; Warren, Daniel J.; Westrick, Robert

doi:10.1109/oceans.2010.5664410

Cited by 2 publications

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“…This paper will focus primarily on the C-Surveyor AUVs, which are HUGIN 1,000, 3,000, and 4,500 meter systems (Figure 1). The AUV surveys were instrumental in planning and conducting the 2008, 2009, 2010 Reefs, Rigs, and Wrecks investigation (sponsored by the BOEMRE, NOAA OER, and NOPP) of the historical sailing vessels the Ewing Banks Wreck, the Viosca Knoll Wreck, the Green Lantern Wreck, and the WWII tanker Gulfoil (Church et al 2010). Four AUVs have been added to C & C's fleet over the last decade as well as several payload and sensor upgrades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep-water Archaeological AUV Surveys and Photo Capabilities

Church¹,

Westrick

Warren

2011

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In January 2001, C & C Technologies, Inc. placed into full operation the first commercial deep-water Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) in the Gulf of Mexico. The application of this advanced technology was immediately beneficial to the survey industry as well as having a profound impact on deep-water archaeology. Over twenty-four shipwrecks and several additional potential wrecks have been discovered and/or investigated using C & C's AUVs. Several of those surveys resulted in new discoveries and at least, thirteen of the wrecks have been confirmed to be historic vessels. The initial primary geophysical instrument payload of the HUGIN model AUV consisted of dual frequency side scan sonar, subbottom profiler, and multibeam bathymetry. In 2009, C & C added a digital still camera to the vehicle allowing relatively quick visual confirmation of seafloor targets. The photos and photo mosaics produced from the camera surveys have further advanced deep-water archaeological investigation and mapping. This paper focuses on the archaeological application of the AUVs and in particular the photographic capabilities and utilization of those photographs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep-water Archaeological AUV Surveys and Photo Capabilities

Church¹,

Westrick

Warren

2011

All Days

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Lightweight underwater robot developed for archaeological surveys and excavations

et al. 2023

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This paper reports the development of a lightweight remotely operated vehicle that performs underwater excavation work for archaeological surveys. Discovering underwater artifacts is generally difficult because they are in high risk areas and are often covered with sediment. To discover them, divers and large remotely operated vehicles must conduct excavation work with a manipulator(s). Nevertheless, accomplishing such tasks is difficult for small and portable underwater robots without a manipulator(s). As described herein, we developed a lightweight underwater robot of 35 kg that can remove sediment from the seabed or lake bottom using its thrusters instead of a manipulator. Numerous redundant thrusters are equipped with the robot to compensate the reaction force of the thrusters for sediment removal. Eight thrusters are arranged not only for sediment removal but also for fine maneuvering. First, through preliminary experiments, we investigated the potential use of a water flow generated using a pair of small marine thrusters to remove surface sediment. Next, we described the design and development of a lightweight underwater robot with eight thrusters and high-definition cameras for archaeological surveys. Finally, we conducted field experiments to demonstrate the sediment removal performance and usefulness of the developed robot.

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Reefs, rigs, and wrecks: The 2009 field season of deep-water archaeology in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Deep-water Archaeological AUV Surveys and Photo Capabilities

Deep-water Archaeological AUV Surveys and Photo Capabilities

Lightweight underwater robot developed for archaeological surveys and excavations

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