Speaker: Barbara Fletcher, Ocean Engineer, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center – Pacific . Topic: From the Lab to the Ocean – Docking a REMUS 600 with a free floating dock.

Abstract: Docking an autonomous underwater vehicle is a critical part of many current and envisioned Navy, commercial, and scientific missions.  In the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Tactical Undersea Network Architectures (TUNA) program, docking a vehicle is a key enabler for several of the proposed concepts of operation.  To support the program, a series of risk reduction tests were performed to characterize the docking process of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with a suspended dock.  Two methods of docking were performed:  a “soft” optical dock where the vehicle tracked and followed a suspended light emitting diode (LED) beacon and a hard physical dock where the vehicle entered a tubular structure.  This docking demonstration and associated data provided design support information for the various approaches being considered for implementing TUNA and other program solutions.

Bio: Barbara Fletcher is an ocean engineer and project manager at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center – Pacific (SSC), specializing in unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) applications. Over the past 35 years, Barbara has worked both in government and industry on vehicle systems for mine countermeasures, structure inspection, ship hull inspection, underwater security and various scientific efforts. Highlights of her career include the following:

•  Co-author of the US Navy’s UUV Master Plan (April 2000) and Master Plan Update (Nov 2004), providing the guidelines for the Navy’s future use and development of unmanned undersea vehicles.
• Project manager for the SSC portion of the Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV) project (2003-2009), working in league with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to build the 11,000 m capable Nereus vehicle.
• Project manager for the SSC portion of the DARPA Tactical Undersea Network Architecture (TUNA) program (2014-present).

She has a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of California. She is active in a range of professional societies, including being the Technical Program Chair for the MTS / IEEE OCEANS 13 and 21 Conferences in San Diego, six years on the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society Advisory Committee, and past chair of the San Diego Chapter of the Marine Technology Society.