Method for maintaining the outer surface of a hull utilizing an in-line multi-node tether management arrangement

A method of maintaining the outer surface of a hull, comprising:

• providing a power source, and on the outer surface of the hull, providing:
• one or more node vehicles each node having a node sensor suite;
• an end effector vehicle to perform maintenance routines, the end effector having hull maintenance tools and a sensor suite,
• a plurality of umbilical line sections for providing power to the one or more node vehicles and the end effector vehicle, wherein the umbilical sections extend in an in-line arrangement connecting the one or more node vehicles and the end effector vehicle to the power source,
• the method further comprising:
• partitioning the outer surface of the hull into different segments that define work areas;
• selecting one of the defined work areas to begin hull maintenance;
• positioning of the one or more node vehicles onto the hull surface within the selected defined work area;
• positioning of the end effector vehicle onto the hull surface within the selected defined work area;
• initializing system sensor suites of the one or more node vehicles and the end effector;
• initiating the end effector vehicle to perform a maintenance routine within the selected work area;
• and
• utilizing the sensor suites to track the location of the end effector vehicle to maintain a desired tether tension in the umbilical line sections to prevent entanglement of the umbilical line sections.