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In a new project led by PhD candidate Leonard Florian Tom Günzel at NTNU’s Department of Marine Technology, the team is taking the first steps toward making Blueye Robotics’ popular mini-ROV fully autonomous. The goal is to cut the tether – literally – and enable the vehicle to operate independently from a docking station on the seafloor for weeks at a time.

“We’re working to turn Blueye into an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that can reside on the seafloor for extended periods,” says Günzel. “After months of simulations and pool testing, we’ve now completed our first field deployment in the Trondheim Fjord – with great success.”

Infrastructure and navigation for resident operations

Together with PhD colleagues Ambjørn Waldum and Gabriele Kasparaviciute and a team of eight master's students, the project team has developed both the vehicle and the infrastructure needed to support long-term autonomous missions.

The AUV is designed to navigate distances of 100–500 meters back to a docking station located on the seabed. To find its way, it uses an Ultra-short baseline (USBL) transducer that sends signals to a modem on the AUV. The modem pings back and receives its position in return, enabling precise real-time navigation.

As the AUV approaches the station, it can either pause in front of an optical modem for communication or proceed directly to dock. The station provides inductive charging and high-bandwidth data transfer. This enables operators to update mission parameters, retrieve sensor data, and issue new instructions – all without the AUV having to surface. In effect, this allows the vehicle to become a resident AUV, operating continuously from a fixed subsea base without human intervention between missions.

The recent deployment was carried out in collaboration with NTNU’s larger ROV, Minerva, and marks a major step forward for compact subsea vehicles.

The project is part of the broader SAFEGUARD initiative and builds on years of research and development at NTNU, where also NTNU VISTA Centre for Autonomous Robotic Operations Subsea - CAROS has been an important infrastructure provider.

A technological milestone

“I’m incredibly thankful for everyone who contributed – through master’s theses, technical work, and ongoing support. And of course to Martin Ludvigsen, who laid much of the foundation for what we’re building on today,” says Günzel.

About Blueye Robotics

Founded in 2015 as a spin-off from NTNU, Blueye Robotics has grown into a leading provider of user-friendly underwater drones. Their underwater drones are used worldwide for research, inspection, and education. With a mission to make the ocean more accessible, Blueye combines robust engineering with intuitive design. The autonomy project builds on the flexibility of the existing platform and demonstrates its potential for more advanced, independent operations.

Blueye is a member of both the Ocean Autonomy Cluster and the NORDSEC Defence and Security Cluster, showing how technology developed for civilian use can also support defense applications and critical infrastructure monitoring.

PhD candidate Leonard Florian Tom Günzel, NTNU Department of Marine Technology

Do you want to know more?

Contact Leonard Florian Tom Günzel
PhD Candidate, NTNU Department of Marine Technology
leonard.gunzel@ntnu.no