The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has acquired a Kongsberg Hugin autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for ocean research and the development of subsea infrastructure monitoring systems.
The AUV will join the equipment fleet operated by the Norwegian Centre for Ocean Technology.
The AUV has a maximum operating depth of 6,000 metres and can map two to four square kilometres of seabed per hour. It can function for up to three days between recharges and is equipped with a high-resolution camera.
NTNU said the 6.18-metre vehicle weighs 1,850 to 1,980 kilograms in air and can map the seabed at a resolution of two to three centimetres.
“The Hugin platform is the most effective tool we have for improving our understanding of what is happening underwater,” said Martin Ludvigsen, professor in NTNU’s Department of Marine Technology and project manager for the Norwegian Ocean Technology Centre’s Fjordlab. “NTNU’s current equipment takes two to three days to map the same area that a Hugin can cover in one hour.”
Ludvigsen will lead a larger team responsible for developing the platform. Planned work includes ocean research and autonomous systems that could monitor pipelines and subsea cable networks.
NTNU also intends to use the AUV in Norwegian and European defence research.
NTNU has already tested smaller autonomous vehicles for infrastructure inspection. During two test rounds near Hammerfest in August, researchers used an AUV and an autonomous surface vehicle to photograph a subsea pipeline.
