Acoustic modem-based guiding method for autonomous underwater vehicle for marine seismic surveys

1. An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for recording seismic signals during a marine seismic survey, the AUV comprising:

a communication device configured to acoustically receive location information from plural transducers of a vessel, wherein each transducer of the vessel transmits its own geographical location;

a navigation system configured to receive the location information from the communication device and to calculate current and target positions of the AUV based on the location information;

a propulsion system configured to drive the AUV from the current position to the target position; and

a seismic sensor for recording seismic data after reaching a final target position.

2. The AUV of claim 1 , wherein the navigation system calculates the current position based on the location information received from the transducers.

3. The AUV of claim 2 , wherein the navigation system calculates the target position based on the current position and the final target position.

4. The AUV of claim 1 , wherein the geographical location of each transducer is measured by a global positioning system (GPS) mounted on the vessel and adjusted to take into consideration a relative distance between each transducer and the location of the GPS.

5. The AUV of claim 4 , wherein the geographical location of each transducer is further adjusted to correspond to a future time.

6. The AUV of claim 5 , wherein the future time is a sum of a current time and half of a length of a signal transmitted by a transducer.

7. The AUV of claim 1 , wherein the communication device receives one by one the location information from the plural transducers.

8. The AUV of claim 7 , wherein a signal from a single transducer lasts about 500 ms.

9. The AUV of claim 8 , wherein a time gap between two consecutive signals received by the communication device is about 500 ms.

10. A seismic system for performing a seismic survey, the seismic system comprising:

a vessel having plural transducers configured to send location information in the water; and

at least one autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for recording seismic signals during the marine seismic survey, the at least one AUV comprising:

a communication device configured to acoustically receive the location information from the plural transducers of the vessel, wherein each transducer of the vessel transmits its own geographical location,

a navigation system configured to receive the location information from the communication device and to calculate current and target positions of the AUV based on the location information,

a propulsion system configured to drive the AUV from the current position to the target position, and

a seismic sensor for recording seismic data after reaching a final target position.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the navigation system calculates the current position based on the location information received from the transducers.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the navigation system calculates the target position based on the current position and the final target position.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the geographical location of each transducer is measured by a global positioning system (GPS) mounted on the vessel and adjusted to take into consideration a relative distance between each transducer and the location of the GPS.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the geographical location of each transducer is further adjusted to correspond to a future time.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the future time is a sum of a current time and half of a length of a signal transmitted by a transducer.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the communication device receives one by one the location information from the plural transducers, wherein a signal from a single transducer lasts about 500 ms, and wherein a time gap between two consecutive signals received by the communication device is about 500 ms.

17. A method for guiding an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to a final target on the sea floor, the method comprising:

releasing from a vessel the AUV in the water;

using a navigation system of the AUV to guide the AUV from a current position to a target position;

receiving at a communication device of the AUV, while traveling from the current position to the target position, location information from plural transducers mounted on a vessel, wherein the location information is related to a location of the vessel;

calculating with a processor of the AUV, based on the location information, an updated current position of the AUV;

using the navigation system and the updated current position to calculate a new target position of the AUV; and

guiding the AUV to the new target position.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

calculating the current position based on the location information received from the transducers and

calculating the target position based on the current position and a given final target position.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

measuring the geographical location of each transducer with a global positioning system (GPS) mounted on the vessel; and

adjusting the geographical location to take into consideration a relative distance between each transducer and the location of the GPS.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

further adjusting the geographical location of each transducer to correspond to a future time,

wherein the future time is a sum of a current time and half of a length of a signal transmitted by a transducer.