Sciences et avenir: ECA Group to develop A6K AUV, the future autonomous explorer to the abyss

Thursday, March 30 2017

The tender of Ifremer for the manufacture a 6000 m deep autonomous underwater exploration robot was won by the French company ECA Group. The first dives are expected in two years.

Published on scienceetavenir.fr, March 2017.

"An autonomous underwater exploration vehicle should soon integrate the Ifremer (French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea) flotilla, opening the way to great depths: 6 kilometers below the surface. This vehicle, which has been under study for two years already, was designed for reconnaissance and mapping missions. It was the subject of a call for tenders in May 2016 within the framework of an alliance called Coral with the Paca region and the European Union.

ECA Group will be responsible for developing the submersible, while Ifremer will design some of the scientific instruments which will be carried underwater. It has two peculiarities that make it unique. The first is that it will not be wire-guided from the surface as is the Victor 6000, another Ifremer robot exploring the depths. "Its battery will enable it to operate in total autonomy for 24 to 48 hours. And while it operates, the crews will be able to devote themselves to other tasks, such as the operation of the Victor 6000 or the inhabited submarine Nautile.

The second feature is that this autonomous vehicle will be designed to reach to 6000 meters depths. It is much more than the two other AUV of the Ifremer fleet that are the AsterX and IdefX machines, designed for a depth half as much. In addition, the future pocket submarine will be equipped with a very wide range of sensors. "In particular, a multibeam echo sounder capable of bathymetry surveys and 3D bottom mapping," says Lorenzo Brignone, "it will also perform reflectivity measurements on the water column to detect possible hydrocarbon plumes, Gas or fresh water, in which case the device may take the initiative to descend in order to perform an optical mapping of the anomaly with a resolution of 50 cm ".

Other equipment, which can be integrated according to the objectives of each mission, could carry out chemical analyzes in situ (by means of mass spectrometers) or samplings using a pumps and barrel system. The first technical tests are expected for the first quarter of 2019."