UiS Subsea-Freight Glider: A large buoyancy-driven autonomous cargo glider

Abstract

This study presents the baseline design for the autonomous subsea vehicle capable of traveling at a lower speed of 1 m/s with an operating range of 400 km. Owing to UiS subsea-freight glider’s (USFG) exceedingly economical and unique propulsion system, it can transport various types of cargo over variable distances. The primary use-case scenario for the USFG is to serve as an autonomous transport vessel to carry CO2 from land-based facilities to subsea injection sites. This allows the USFG to serve as a substitute for weather-dependent cargo tankers and underwater pipelines. The length of the USFG is 50.25 m along with a beam of 5.50 m, which allows the vessel to carry 518 m3 of CO2 while serving the storage needs of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) ventures on the Norwegian continental shelf. The USFG is powered by battery cells, and it only consumes a little less than 8 kW of electrical power. Along with the mechanical design of the USFG, the control design is also presented in the final part of the paper. The maneuvering model of the USFG is presented along with two operational case studies. For this purpose, a linear quadratic regulator (LQR)- and proportional-integral-derivative (PID)-based control system is designed, and a detailed comparison study is also shown in terms of tuning and response characteristics for both controllers.