Development of Autonomous Explorer for Arctic Ice Survey

- Examination of running performance on ice and snow -

Abstract

The remarkable decrease in Arctic sea ice has affected climate change in recent years. Therefore, it is an important issue to investigate the Arctic sea ice. We have been developing an Arctic sea ice survey system. The method is to drop an AUV under sea ice and examine the sea's condition and the back of the ice. However, it was difficult to estimate the self-position with the AUV alone. Previous research demonstrated that communication from above the ice to under the sea is possible using low-frequency electromagnetic waves. Hence, in this research, we have developed a radio wave tower that can autonomously move on ice to a position to communicate with the AUV. This paper reports on the ice and snow driving tests of the developed mobile vehicle.