Review of Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (AUV) Developments 
The Ocean Explorer is not just a single AUV but rather the name for the next generation of 
several vehicles currently being built. This is a new family of AUVs of modular construction, with 
hull, sensors, and software easily convertible for different payloads. The one pictured in figure 
26 has been named COOK. It uses an extensive intelligent distributed control system called 
Figure 26. COOK 
LonWorks (Neuron) for communications between numerous sensors and actuators. It is 
presently undergoing tests in the local waters around FAU. The docking system allows an 
Ocean Explorer AUV to rendezvous and dock with its base station using fuzzy logic control. 
Note: The 3-foot parallel midbody version, containing approximately 7.5 cubic feet of payload 
volume. This version is about 10 1/2 feet long. The base vehicle is about 7 1/2 feet in length. 
Payload interfacing specifications are depicted in table 11. 
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