Abstract
Power supply is one of the most important issues for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) which have no umbilical cable connecting with their mother ships. Underwater robotic glider can go forward without any propulsive machinery and it is extremely efficient in energy consumption. The purpose of this research is to study the feasibility of a solar-powered underwater robotic glider so as to improve its long-term endurance, The SORA glider equipped with two thrustors and amorphous-silicon solar panels was developed as a test-bed vehicle of the solar-powered underwater robotic glider, and the authors have demonstrated that SORA has an ability to go underwater using solar energy. This paper deals with development of the SORA glider and the feasibility of the solar-powered underwater robotic glider use in the surface layer of ocean.
