ROV assisted magnetic induction communication field tests in underwater environments

Magnetic Induction (MI) is a promising technique for near-field wireless underwater communications. Although the literature has some theoretical analyses and lab experiments for underwater MI communication, there is a lack of field tests in underwater environments, especially in subsea environments. In this paper, we leverage the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and the remotely controlled boat (RCB) to develop an MI wireless communication system, and conduct field tests for MI communication performance in both fresh water and sea water. The experiment results show that even in the most challenging subsea environment, the MI communication has very good near-field transmission performance with a small coil antenna and low power consumption.