Systems, devices, and methods for underwater vehicles

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to methods, techniques, and systems for underwater vehicles, in particular buoyancy driven vehicles such as vertical profiling floats. An example vertical profiling float vehicle is constructed from two independent substantially cylindrical pressure housings that each have a concave end. The housings are coupled to one another at their concave ends, such that the concavities face one another and form a chamber. The chamber is open to the environment and houses an external displacement bladder, such that the bladder is located at or about the midplane of the vehicle. The vehicle may also include a fluid return system that is operable to precisely control the return of fluid from the displacement bladder to an internal reservoir. The vehicle in some embodiments may also include a fixed-displacement pump configured to pump fluid from the internal reservoir to the displacement bladder.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.