Experimental Test and Evaluation of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

AUV will increasingly play critical roles for maritime operations and warfare; however, they must first become trusted assets that complement an organisations culture and existing capability. This dependency is a global challenge for organisations implementing AUV, where robotics control systems are becoming more capable, yet the user or organisation may not be prepared for their effective integration and employment. Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) is the opportunity to determine the readiness of the overall system for deployments; however, OT&E of complex robotic systems such as AUV is notoriously difficult and evolving. Hence, a framework for Experimental T&E (ET&E), merging research, development, acceptance and operational testing through designed experiments is appropriate. This paper outlines a repeatable, comparable ET&E framework to determine suitability, readiness, and improvement of AUV for Mine Counter-Measures. The framework proposed maintains a focus on technical capability throughout operational testing, but is adaptable for different organisations, and operating concepts.