The Present State of Deep-sea Underwater Glider Technologies and Applications

Abstract

Underwater gliders are a new type of underwater robots which are buoyancy-driven, moving up and down in the ocean without propeller system, so they tend to be applied to conduct marine environmental observations within long-time and large-range dimensions. In this paper, we give an overview of the system components of deep-sea underwater gliders on power, control, communication and detection, and also introduce the development and present state of deep-sea underwater glider technologies and applications in china and abroad.Taking Sea-Wing underwater gliders developed by Shenyang Institute of Automation as an example, we elaborate on the achievements on the platform technologies and scientific applications of deep-sea underwater gliders in recent years. Finally, combining with the present state of deep-sea underwater gliders, we analyze the core technologies and development tendencies, and we believe that deep-sea underwater gliders will have wide application and bright foreground in observation and networking in the waters surrounding our country in the near future.