A new conceptual design for subsea charging station
Authors: Luo Jing , Wang You , Xinyu Zhao , Zhang Jiatai 
Published: June 2022

With deepening ocean development , a larger scale Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) is being realized[1].More and more underwater equipment is being deployed, various ocean monitoring equipment, underwater robots and underwater group sites amongst others, all of which will be working in the deep sea for long periods of time in the foreseeable future[2].Due to the increasing working time and power consumption, it has become difficult for the high energy batteries carried by these facilities to cover their energy needs [3]. Therefore, it is necessary to solve the problem of electrical energy replenishment for underwater equipment.Based on Equinor’s Underwater Intervention Drone (UID) standard interface definition, Blue Logic have produced the world's first three universal, open-standard subsea drone docking stations.But this is not perfect, in the face of deeper waters, more complex multi-shape deep sea equipment charging needs, the current program is not enough to solve[4].Therefore, based on the IoUT scenario positioning, this research designs a subsea charging station that can serve multiple devices.The concept is similar to a land-based collection station for power banks, providing multiple sub-charging equipment that can be carried on the move to charge multiple subsea equipments of different types simultaneously.It also uses ocean energy to provide in-situ produced electricity for the underwater charging base station .Compared to Blue Logic's Subsea Drone Docking Station (SDS), it enables the multi-device charging needs of the IoUT using ultrasonic technology[5,6].In the long term, the combination of existing equipment will greatly reduce the cost of regional subsea long-term exploration and expand the scope of exploration[7].The paper will solve the following problems:1) How to solve the charging problem of long-distance survey of underwater equipments（e.g. AUV）?2) How to make the design applicable to charging usage scenarios common to different types, forms and sizes of underwater equipments?3) How to design underwater charging energy transmission more efficiently and sustainably?The research approach composed following parts:- Through literature research, sort out the development status of technical equipment such as underwater charging, underwater docking, underwater information transmission and marine power generation.- A structure interview with the opinions of deep-sea equipment designers and researchers to clarify the design requirements. - Analyze product features and problems and summarize the design process and direction through brainstorming method and solution building method.The design of the underwater multi-port charging base station solves the energy problem of deep-sea long-term survey equipment, with poor energy sustainability and low charging efficiency.This approach will enable true continuous subsea operations in extremely dynamic ocean environments.Although the project is still a conceptual design and various sensors are still being experimented with, it is forward-looking and instructive for future applications.References1.Wang X., Lu J., Peng W., &Song L.,(2021) Accelerating the construction of marine "new infrastructure" and promoting high-quality development of marine industry,Science & Technology Review,39(16),pp.76-80.2.Qu, Feng-Chong, Lai. , Liu, J.-Z., Tu, X.-B., Jiang, Y.,(2021)'Research and Application of Key Technologies for Marine Internet of Things', Telecommunications Science, 37, (7), pp. 25-33.3.Tian Y., Yuan R.,&Li X.,(2018)'Design and experiment of deep-sea microcurrent power generation system', Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica,Journal of China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology, 39, (4), pp. 873-878.4.SubseaDockingStation(SDS).[Online].Available:https://www.bluelogic.no/news-and-media/subsea-docking-station-sds-.5.Abicht, D., Torvestad, J.C., Solheimsnes, P.A., and Stenevik, K.A., ‘Underwater Intervention Drone Subsea Control System’, in Proceedings of the OTC, 2020.6.Wang Y., &Tian F.,(2019)'Research on acoustic wave-based charging planning in underwater sensing networks',Journal of China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology,14(11),pp.1183-11877.Cruz, N.A., Matos, A.C., Almeida, R.M., and Ferreira, B.M.: ‘A lightweight docking station for a hovering AUV’, in Proceedings of the IEEE, 2017, pp. 1-7.