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TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS

Now that I am retired from the navy research laboratory in San Diego and working as an engineering consultant, along with writing my technical books and thriller novels, I felt it was time to combine the two disciplines into one website. This was done and I’ve included this section of technical publications for two reasons: 1) Many of my novels deal with underwater technology and I wanted to be able to provide referenceable material in support of those novels and also verify to my readers that I understand the technology, and 2) provide easy access to my technical publications for those interested in the technology or who are researching what has been done in the past. During my career I have watched systems be successfully developed and then changed over time to the point that the past was forgotten and the same mistakes were manifesting themselves again. “What goes around, comes around,” so I’ve included my history to hopefully help others advance the technology without reinventing the wheel. Enjoy.

Technical Books

The ROV Manual, 2nd Edition. Many underwater operations that were once carried out by divers can now be carried out more efficiently and with less risk with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). This is the first ROV "how-to" manual for those involved with smaller observation class ROVs used for surveying, inspection, observation and research purposes. As ROV technology becomes increasingly efficient and affordable, their use is rapidly spreading throughout a myriad of industries, everything from aquaculture to port and harbour security to underwater crime scene investigation, marine salvage, deep sea archaeology and commercial diving – even deep sea rescue missions are handled by ROVs. Any industry involved with underwater investigation and surveying will inevitably rely on these machines. The ROV Manual is the first user guide to provide complete training and knowledge on ROV operations for engineers, technicians or underwater recreational enthusiasts, whether working inland or offshore.

The Operational Effectiveness of Unmanned Underwater Systems is a book on CD-ROM edited and co-authored by Robert Wernli. The book contains details about unmanned systems, their expected performance, including full descriptions and specifications, how they operate, where they are operating and how successfully, and what they can be expected to do in the future. The CD-ROM, which contains 700 pages with 390 photographs, charts and diagrams, is available online free of charge from the Marine Technology Society at www.rov.org/education-resources.

 

 

The Spark in the Sea is a compilation of 15 Adventures in Marine Science edited by David Horrigan. Robert Wernli is the author of Just a Matter of Time, with Larry Brady, who relates the story of the rescue of the Pisces III submersible off Cork, Ireland, in 1973. The book is available from www.Amazon.com. 

Technical Papers

Wernli, R. and Christ, R. “Observation Class ROVs Come of Age,” Sixth International Symposium on Underwater Technology UT2009, Wuxi, China, April 2009

“The History and Capabilities of Deep ROVs,” Underwater Technology ’07 Workshop, Shanghai, China, 23 April 2007

“Who’s Leading the Pack Now? An Update on the Commercialization of AUVs,” Underwater Intervention ’05, New Orleans, LA, 2005.

Wernli, R.L., Fletcher, B. “Expanding Missions for Small Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVS),” Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, June 8-13, 2003, Cancun, Mexico

“Recent U.S. Navy Underwater Vehicle Projects.” Proceedings of the Post Underwater Technology 2002 (UT ’02) Workshop on Advances in Ocean Monitoring and Exploration for the New Century, April 22-23, 2002, Taipei, Taiwan.

“AUVs—A Technology Whose Time Has Come.” Proceedings of the Underwater Technology 2002 Symposium, April 2002, Tokyo, Japan.

“Recent U.S. Navy Underwater Vehicle Projects.” Japan Committee on Natural Resources (UJNR) Conference Proceedings, 5-8 November, 2001, Honolulu, Hawaii.

“Low Cost UUVs for Military Applications: Is the Technology Ready?” PACON 2001 Proceedings, pp. 123-132. San Francisco, CA, 2001.

“AUV Commercialization—Who’s Leading the Pack?” OCEANS 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference proceedings, Providence, Rhode Island, 2000.

Wernli, R.L., et al. “The Navy Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Master Plan, “ 20 April 2000.

“SSC San Diego – The World is Our Platform.” U.S.—Japan Committee on Natural Resources (UJNR) Conference Proceedings, 15-19 May 2000, Tokyo, Japan.

“AUV’s—The Maturity of the Technology.” OCEANS 1999 Conference Proceedings, Seattle, Washington, 1999.

“Trends in UUV Development within the U.S. Navy.” OCEANS 1997 Conference Proceedings, 6-9 October 1997, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

“The Changing Picture of UUV Development in the U.S. Navy,” Conference Record of the 21st Meeting of the U.S.-Japan Marine Facilities Panel, May 19-25, 1997, pp. 241-260.

“UUVs: Deep Ocean Applications,” Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the US/Japan Marine Facilities Panel of the United States-Japan/Cooperative Program on Natural Resources (UJNR). 10-11 May 1994, Tokyo, Japan

“An International Perspective on ROV Technology.” Black Sea ’92, 14 September, Varna, Bulgaria.

“A Technology Report from ROV ’91.” Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Advanced Robotics, 20-22 June, Palazzo dei Congressi, Pisa, Italy.

“The Innerspace Race—Where is It?” OCEANS 1991 Conference Proceedings (vol. 2, pp. 883-886). October 1-3, Honolulu, HI.

“Robotics Undersea,” Published in “Teleoperated Robotics in Hostile Environments.” Published by Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 1985.

R. L. Wernli and J. E. Jaeger, "ROV Technology Update From an International Perspective," Proceedings of MTS/IEEE OCEANS'84 Conference, pp. 639 - 645, September 1984

“The Undersea Robot,” International Robot Conference & Exhibition, InterRobot ’83, Long Beach, CA June, 1983

“Experience With an Unmanned Vehicle Based Recovery System, “Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 1983

“The Application of Robotics to Undersea Work Systems,” ASME Computers in Engineering Conference, 1982

“Underwater Robots,” 2nd Annual Robotics Conference Proceedings, 1982 -- Available soon!

“Deep Ocean Applications of Rotational Position Sensors,” ASME Winter Annual Meeting Proceedings, 1981

“Recovery Operations Utilizing a Remotely Controlled Vehicle/Work System,” IEEE OCEANS ’80 Conference Proceedings, Seattle, Washington, 1980

“Deep Ocean Applications of Manipulators and Work Systems,” American Nuclear Society, 27th Conference on Remote Systems Technology, 1979, Conference Proceedings

Wernli, R. L. “The Work Systems Package – Remote Work Experience,” IEEE OCEANS ’79 Conference Proceedings

“Development of a Design Baseline for Remotely Controlled Work Systems,” IEEE/MTS OCEANS ’78 Conference Proceedings, Washington, DC, September, 1978

“Design for Remote Work in The Deep Ocean,” ASME Winter Annual Meeting, 1978, Conference Proceedings

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