strated, and subsea machines powered by this system be widely developed for long-hour operation.
4. Following the conventional manned submarines and unmanned tethered subsea machines, a variety of autonomous underwater robots are expected to be developed for practical machines as a third generation of subsea research platforms.
For supplementary reference :
For oceanographic measurement, both in water and on the seabed, it has been the usual practice to lower a measuring instrument from an observation ship.
However, the traditional method is often totally inapplicable over a large area, on a deep seabed, an oceanic bed or on the mid-ocean ridges, where the ocean plate is formed. For these reasons, it is hoped that an autonomous underwater robot become available for automatic subsea activities including measurement, differ from pin- point surver using manned and/or tethered submersibles. Especially in dangerous waters where volcanic activities are vigorous in the seabed, autonomous underwater robots, such as the "R-one Robot", can be properly used without particular care for human life.
Whereas many different types of underwater robots are conceivable, ones which dive over a long distance, such as the "R-one Robot" are known as the cruising type.
In order that a cruising type subsea robot engages in long-hour activities in a large area of sea, it requires a low-cost energy supply system having a large capacity and a high density, which should also be high reliablity in order to operate the robot autonomously.
The CCDE is a suitable air independent power source for autonomous underwater vehicle.
