Showing papers on "Intervention AUV published in 2015"
TL;DR: AUV technology has progressed rapidly in recent years and AUVs, including sub-sea gliders, are now emerging from their original role in oceanographic research and finding growing uses in the defence and offshore energy sectors.
Abstract: This paper aims to provide details of underwater robot technology and its applications.,Following an introduction, this article first discusses remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technology and applications and then considers their use in the emerging field of deep-sea mining. It then discusses autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology and its applications, including sub-sea gliders. Finally, brief concluding comments are drawn.,ROVs were first developed in the 1950s for military applications. They are now widely used by the offshore oil and gas sector and other industries and are being developed for deep-sea mining. AUV technology has progressed rapidly in recent years and AUVs, including sub-sea gliders, are now emerging from their original role in oceanographic research and finding growing uses in the defence and offshore energy sectors.,This provides a detailed insight into underwater robot technologies, products and applications.
99 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a brief overview of the AUV development history from the beginning to the present day is given, where different types of AUVs from remote operated vehicles (ROV) to biomimetic AUVs are considered.
96 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the different mechatronic components that constitute the I-AUV developed for the EU FP7 TRIDENT project, their hardware and software integration, and the performance of the vehicle during the project trials.
Abstract: Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are routinely used to survey areas of interest in seas and oceans all over the world. However, those operations requiring intervention capabilities are still reserved to manned submersibles or remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). In the recent years, few research projects have demonstrated the viability of a new type of submersible, the intervention AUV (I-AUV), which can perform underwater missions involving manipulations in a completely autonomous way. The EU FP7 TRIDENT project is one of the most recent examples of such technological concept. This paper describes the different mechatronic components that constitute the I-AUV developed for the TRIDENT project, their hardware and software integration, and the performance of the vehicle during the project trials.
93 citations
01 Aug 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors have developed an innovative low-cost, multi-role autonomous underwater vehicle, called Tifone, for cooperative underwater exploration and surveillance involving the use of a swarm of vehicles.
Abstract: The Mechatronics and Dynamic Modelling Laboratory of the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, as a partner of THESAURUS (Italian acronym for ‘TecnicHe per l’Esplorazione Sottomarina Archeologica mediante l’Utilizzo di Robot aUtonomi in Sciami’) project, has developed an innovative low-cost, multirole autonomous underwater vehicle, called Tifone. This article deals with the adopted methodologies for the autonomous underwater vehicle design: in particular, the main focus of this study is related to its propulsion system. According to the expected performances and requirements of THESAURUS project, the vehicle has to maintain good autonomy and efficiency (typical features of an autonomous underwater vehicle), with high manoeuvrability and hovering capabilities, which are more common of remotely operated vehicles. Moreover, cooperative underwater exploration and surveillance involve the use of a swarm of vehicles. In particular, the optimization of costs versus benefits is achieved th...
70 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a funnel-type AUV docking system that can be connected to a cabled ocean observatory network is developed to charge AUVs undersea, which includes non-penetrating power and data transfer without any auxiliary actuators, auto-orientation adjustment of the entrance, magnetic clamping of the AUV, and computer vision integrated navigation.
66 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a hovering-type autonomous underwater vehicle called Cyclops is introduced, which utilizes a lawnmower trajectory without changing its heading direction to obtain source images with homogeneous optical characteristics for underwater image mosaicing.
56 citations
01 Oct 2015
TL;DR: The FlatFish project as discussed by the authors is an initiative of BG Group Brazil and the Brazilian Institute of Robotics in Salvador and aims at developing a subsea-resident AUV which can inspect the infrastructure at an oil and gas site on demand.
Abstract: Currently the inspection of industrial underwater structures is performed by remotely operated vehicles or by divers. Since the number of underwater structures keeps growing, e.g. due to new oil and gas fields or offshore wind farms, the need for a constantly available method to inspect these structures arises. The FlatFish project is an initiative of BG Group Brazil and the Brazilian Institute of Robotics in Salvador and aims at developing a subsea-resident AUV which can inspect the infrastructure at an oil and gas site on demand. FlatFish is a compact AUV, designed to acquire a high-resolution, textured 3D model of an underwater structure within an oil and gas asset. FlatFish is very agile and can hover during inspection, it uses a novel kind of navigation system to safely reach its goal within the field and is designed to stay submerged for extended periods of time. Within this paper the system design of FlatFish is presented.
54 citations
03 May 2015
TL;DR: A novel kind of AUV path planning algorithm is proposed by combining the velocity synthesis algorithm and artificial potential field method to avoid obstacles effectively and show that the proposed algorithm is effective.
Abstract: Because the impact of ocean current on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) navigation is greater than the impact of wind on ground mobile robot, there is the essential difference between underwater environment and ground environment. Ocean current and obstacles must be considered for AUV path planning in underwater environment. In this paper, a novel kind of AUV path planning algorithm is proposed by combining the velocity synthesis algorithm and artificial potential field method. Firstly, the improved artificial potential field method is used to avoid obstacles effectively. Then according to the characteristics of AUV navigation, the velocity synthesis algorithm is used to achieve the optimal path. Finally, the problem of path planning for AUV in ocean current environment with obstacles is solved. Simulation result shows that the proposed algorithm is effective.
45 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a mathematical model for the underwater vehicle and derived a stable gliding condition for it, where an LQR controller was designed to control the zigzag depth of the vehicle, where the derived gliding conditions were used as set-points of the control system.
Abstract: To provide a conventional autonomous underwater vehicle with gliding capability, we assume a moving battery and a buoyancy bag installed in a torpedo shaped autonomous underwater vehicle. We develop a mathematical model for the underwater vehicle and derive a stable gliding condition for it. Then an LQR controller is designed to control the zigzag depth of the vehicle, where the derived gliding condition is used as set-points of the control system. For control efforts in the gliding movement, the changes in the center of gravity and the net buoyancy are used, but neither thruster nor rudders are used. By using the gliding capability, the underwater vehicle can move to a farther location silently with less energy consumption and then start operating as a normal autonomous underwater vehicle. We show the feasibility of the proposed method by simulations using Matlab/Simulink.
36 citations
Patent•
28 Oct 2015
TL;DR: In this article, a plurality of underwater seismic vehicles (AUVs) are deployed on or near the seabed based on acoustic communications with an underwater vehicle, such as a remotely operated vehicle.
Abstract: Apparatuses, systems, and methods for the deployment of a plurality of autonomous underwater seismic vehicles (AUVs) on or near the seabed based on acoustic communications with an underwater vehicle, such as a remotely operated vehicle. In an embodiment, the underwater vehicle is lowered from a surface vessel along with a subsea station with a plurality of AUVs. The AUVs are configured to acoustically communicate with the underwater vehicle or a second surface vessel for deployment and retrieval operations. The underwater vehicle and/or second surface vessel is configured to instruct the AUVs to leave the subsea station or underwater vehicle and to travel to their intended seabed destination. The underwater vehicle and/or second surface vessel is also configured to selectively instruct the AUVs to leave the seabed and return to a seabed location and/or a subsea station for retrieval.
30 citations
TL;DR: The hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HURV) as discussed by the authors has been developed for both deep-sea exploration and intervention by switching its dual-operation modes for accomplishing underwater tasks during one single cruise deployment.
Abstract: Most of the ocean resources, which cover over 70% of the Earth's surface, are not well discovered or explored. For decades, ocean communities have resorted to underwater robotic vehicles (URVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to replace human beings or manned underwater vehicles (MUVs) on deep underwater activities. Combining the advantages of ROVs and AUVs, a new type of underwater explorer named the hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HURV) has been developed for both deep-sea exploration and intervention by switching its dual-operation modes for accomplishing underwater tasks during one single cruise deployment. This paper presents an overview of the state-of-the-art URV system, where the HURV system is the main concern. The concept of the HURV is introduced via a comparison with other underwater vehicles, after which the thinking behind the HURV design is examined and the operational procedure of the HURV is described. Subsequently, the specifications and ca...
18 May 2015
TL;DR: A mechanical system which will be used with a scuba diver in a symbiotic link, consisting of a diver, an autonomous underwater robot (Buddy), and an autonomous surface robot (PlaDyPos) to improve diver safety.
Abstract: Diving as a profession and sport is and will be one of the most dangerous disciplines known by man. Water is not a natural habitat for humans and people need equipment to breathe underwater. Failure in the breathing apparatus, burst eardrum, decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis are just a couple of problems which can occur during an ordinary dive and result in injuries, long-term illnesses or even death. The most common way to reduce the risk of diving is to dive in pairs. Use of the buddy system by scuba divers is a set of safety procedures that are intended to improve divers' chances of avoiding or surviving accidents underwater. When diving in pairs, divers can cooperate with each other and respond when uncommon situations occur. Having the ability to react before an unwanted situation happens would improve diver safety. This paper proposes a mechanical system which will be used with a scuba diver in a symbiotic link. The concept consists of a diver, an autonomous underwater robot (Buddy) and an autonomous surface robot (PlaDyPos) (Fig. 1) [1].
18 May 2015
TL;DR: The Widely scalable Mobile Underwater Sonar Technology (WiMUST) project as discussed by the authors is an H2020 Research and Innovation Action funded by the European Commission, which aims at developing a system of cooperative AUVs for geotechnical surveying and geophysical exploration.
Abstract: The Widely scalable Mobile Underwater Sonar Technology (WiMUST) project is an H2020 Research and Innovation Action funded by the European Commission. The project aims at developing a system of cooperative Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) for geotechnical surveying and geophysical exploration. The project will address underwater communication, acoustic distributed sensor array, mission planning and robot navigation, guidance and control issues. The paper gives an overview of the project objectives and methods.
18 May 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the application of a heterogeneous robotic system of unmanned vehicles: autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), unmanned surface vehicle (USV), and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) extended with the oil spill numerical modeling, visualisation and decision support capabilities.
Abstract: The tragic Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 as well as the increase in deepwater offshore activity have increased public interest in counter-measures available for sub-surface releases of hydrocarbons. To arrive at proper contingency planning, response managers urge for a system for instant detection and characterization of accidental releases. Along these lines, this paper describes the application of a heterogeneous robotic system of unmanned vehicles: autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) extended with the oil spill numerical modeling, visualisation and decision support capabilities. A first set of field experiments simulating oil spill scenarios with Rhodamine WT was held in Croatia during the early autumn 2014. The objectives of this experiment were to test: effectiveness of the system for underwater detection of hydrocarbons, including multi-vehicle collaborative navigation and communication as well as visualisation of the system components.
01 May 2015
TL;DR: Control strategies implemented in underwater gliders were reviewed and alternative control strategies are proposed.
Abstract: Underwater Gliders (UGs) are a type of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) that uses buoyancy engines, an energy efficient locomotion, primarily for oceanography. In this paper, control strategies for existing underwater gliders are reviewed. A total of 50 papers indexed by Scopus with keywords control and underwater gliders were reviewed from 1989 to 2014. The majority of gliders use classical controllers, which cannot dynamically compensate for un-modeled hydrodynamic forces and unknown variations in water current and wind. With increasing operational depths and larger payloads, control strategies will become an increasingly important aspect for these gliders. Control strategies implemented in underwater gliders were reviewed and alternative control strategies are proposed.
18 May 2015
TL;DR: The MARTA (MARine Tool for Archaeology) is a modular AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) designed and developed by the University of Florence in the framework of the ARROWS (ARchaeological RObot systems for the World's Seas) FP7 European project.
Abstract: MARTA (MARine Tool for Archaeology) is a modular AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) designed and developed by the University of Florence in the framework of the ARROWS (ARchaeological RObot systems for the World's Seas) FP7 European project. The ARROWS project challenge is to provide the underwater archaeologists with technological tools for cost affordable campaigns: i.e. ARROWS adapts and develops low cost AUV technologies to significantly reduce the cost of archaeological operations, covering the full extent of an archaeological campaign (underwater mapping, diagnosis and cleaning tasks). The tools and methodologies developed within ARROWS comply with the “Annex” of the 2001 UNESCO Convention for the protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH). The system effectiveness and MARTA performance will be demonstrated in two scenarios, different as regards the environment and the historical context, the Mediterranean Sea (Egadi Islands) and the Baltic Sea.
17 Dec 2015
TL;DR: Mixed-initiative methods in goal-oriented commanding are new for the oceanographic domain and the motivations and preliminary experiments with multiple vehicles operating simultaneously in the water, using a shore-based automated planner are described.
Abstract: Supervision and control of Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) has traditionally been focused on an operator determining a priori the sequence of waypoints of a single vehicle for a mission. As AUVs become more ubiquitous as a scientific tool, we envision the need for controlling multiple vehicles which would impose less cognitive burden on the operator with a more abstract form of human-in-the-loop control. Such mixed-initiative methods in goal-oriented commanding are new for the oceanographic domain and we describe the motivations and preliminary experiments with multiple vehicles operating simultaneously in the water, using a shore-based automated planner.
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe general overview of design and use of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUGV) and present a survey of the underwater environment and its applications.
Abstract: This paper describe general overview of design and use of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. The major part of earth is water (70 percent) and only few part is land (30 percent). In comparison to dry land only few part of underwater environment is known to us.To better understand the underwater environment and manage this environment and for searching we need detailed accurate and detailed information but it is clearly impractical to manually explore it. However an automatic machine can do this , and this reason for the development of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.
01 Oct 2015
TL;DR: In this article, an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed and operated by Maritime Robotics AS was used to relay acoustic information sent by a REMUS 100 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), to an onshore operation center.
Abstract: This paper presents a demonstration conducted in the Trondheim fjord, where an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed and operated by Maritime Robotics AS was used to relay acoustic information sent by a REMUS 100 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), to an onshore operation center. The AUVs mission was to conduct a survey of a Short Sunderland type aircraft, which was sunk just outside Munkholmen in 1945. The progress of the AUV and the USV were available in real-time throughout the demonstration, and was presented in Maritime Robotics' in-house Vehicle Control Station (VCS) software. The acoustic telemetry data was also relayed to the REMUS Vehicle Interface Program (VIP), used for monitoring the health of the AUV. Furthermore, the USV used the telemetry messages sent by the AUV, containing e.g. position and heading, to autonomously track the AUV during the survey. Throughout the mission, only 63% of the modem messages was received by the USV, and the longest time between telemetry updates was 6 minutes, but the USVs ability to track the AUV and relay data was successfully demonstrated.
18 May 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the preliminary steps in the development of the set-up of a special ROV addressed to perform the monitoring and the planned maintenance activities required to prevent the biological colonization in an underwater archeological site.
Abstract: Remotely Operated underwater Vehicles (ROVs) play an important role in a number of operations conducted in shallow and deep water (e.g.: exploration, survey, intervention, etc.), in several application fields like marine science, offshore construction, and underwater archeology. In this work we describe the preliminary steps in the development of the set-up of a special ROV addressed to perform the monitoring and the planned maintenance activities required to prevent the biological colonization in an underwater archeological site. In order to perform these operations, the ROV has been equipped with a custom arm and an opto-acoustic camera. To simultaneously satisfy position and force trajectory constraints, the vehicle-manipulator system is also controlled through a hybrid positionforce control scheme.
18 May 2015
TL;DR: The first results of surveys carried out by an AUV equipped with an omnidirectional underwater camera are presented, and the process of automatically creating virtual tours from the most relevant images of the datasets are explored.
Abstract: The use of omnidirectional cameras underwater is enabling many new and exciting applications in multiple fields. Among these, the creation of virtual tours from omnidirectional image surveys is expected to have a large impact in terms of science and conservation outreach. These surveys can be performed by Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) that can cover large marine areas with precise navigation. Virtual tours are relevant in zones of special interest such as shipwrecks or underwater nature reserves for both scientists and the general public. This paper presents the first results of surveys carried out by an AUV equipped with an omnidirectional underwater camera, and explores the process of automatically creating virtual tours from the most relevant images of the datasets.
18 May 2015
TL;DR: Amogh as mentioned in this paper is a miniature AUV developed at Centre For Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras for AUVSI RoboSub competition and has a dual hull heavy bottom hydrodynamic design equipped with six thrusters which allow for motion control in 4 degrees of freedom.
Abstract: Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) are slow-moving small unmanned robots capable of swimming independently below the water surface on pre-defined mission paths and are commonly used for oceanographic exploration, bathymetric surveys and military applications. With the use of appropriate sensors and equipment, AUVs can perform underwater object recognition and obstacle avoidance. Amogh is a miniature AUV developed at Centre For Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras for AUVSI RoboSub competition. The vehicle has a non-conventional dual hull heavy bottom hydrodynamic design equipped with six thrusters which allow for motion control in 4 degrees of freedom. This paper presents various aspects of the unique design of the vehicle. The performance of a simple PID controller for steady depth and heading control has been discussed. Simulations performed on a decoupled mathematical model of the vehicle are compared against experimental results.
29 Jul 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, a Kongsberg HUGIN 1000 equipped with Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS), Multibeam echosounder, Doppler Velocity Long (DVL), Differential Global Navigation Satellite Systems (DGNSS), Hydrocarbon sensor, Inertial Navigation System (INS), high definition camera and a turbidity sensor.
Abstract: This paper shows the preliminary perceptions of pipeline inspection with AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) in oil and gas fields. The intent of this new technology is to increase productivity and reduce costs related to facilities inspection. The AUV used is a Kongsberg HUGIN 1000 equiped with Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS), Multibeam echosounder, Doppler Velocity Long (DVL), Differential Global Navigation Satellite Systems (DGNSS), Hydrocarbon sensor, Inertial Navigation System (INS), high definition camera and a turbidity sensor. In the inspection, it is possible to identify the integrity level of the pipeline as well as the environmental conditions of its surroundings, such as: damage, wreckage, buried or partially buried sectors, free-spans, carbonate sediments, pipeline crossings and buckling. The classic inspection is made with manually operated ROV (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle). In this case, the survey with AUV consist of three steps. First is the identification of pipelines and its location in the company's database, followed by a survey with SAS aiming the precise location of the pipeline. The third step consists of a survey with high definition camera, hydrocarbon sensor and Multibeam system. The preliminary results are very interesting, because the product of sensors are of very good quality, resolution and high precision.
TL;DR: The main focus of this article is to introduce the mechatronics and control of this inspection system and present the results of experiments done with its primary high-resolution sensor, which is based on laser-projected structured light.
31 May 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employ a combination of literature review and case study methodology to assess the gap between current remotely operated vehicle (ROV) standards and future autonomous IMR operation requirements.
Abstract: This paper employs a combination of literature review and case study methodology to assess the gap between current remotely operated vehicle (ROV) standards and future autonomous IMR operation requirements. With advent of autonomous subsea and underwater vehicle systems, current ROV standards and guidelines may not offer the same benefit in designing and setting guidelines for safe autonomous operations. The reasons for this claim are two-fold. Firstly, the literature review shows that existing requirements in the ROV standards lack specifications related to autonomous subsea interventions. Secondly, the results from the case study demonstrates existence of knowledge and technology gaps, which pose challenges in development of future autonomous IMR operations.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
01 Oct 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed an operation of multiple AUVs using an ASV (Autonomous Surface Vehicle) to improve survey efficiency, which can relay information between an AUV and operators on a ship or on land.
Abstract: JAMSTEC has developed and operated several AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) as platform for scientific investigation and explorations of seabed mineral resources [1–4]. Conventionally, a support vessel monitors only one AUV during its whole dive for safety and positioning. We propose an operation of multiple AUVs using an ASV (Autonomous Surface Vehicle) to improve survey efficiency. For this purpose, JAMSTEC has been developing an ASV “MAINAMI” with a length of 6 meters since 2013. It has a diesel engine, two thrusters and a rudder. The vehicle is equipped with an acoustic communication device and a satellite one, in order to relay information between an AUV and operators on a ship or on land.
01 Dec 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors built a ROV and equipped it with a surveillance system, which can be used in military, scientific research, film making under the water and monitoring underwater industrial structures and underwater network devices.
Abstract: Remotely operated underwater vehicles or ROVs are underwater robots that are used in science, entertainment, military and offshore oil industries. Their main function is to interact with the environment under the water in various ways. It is a very complicated system and uncommon in the developing or the underdeveloped countries around the world. Countries consisting many water bodies and prone to maritime incidents ROVs can be very useful in rescue missions. In this research work we built a ROV and equipped it with a surveillance system. Our ROV will be quite useful beside rescuers by monitoring the underwater and sending the video. It can also be used in military, scientific research, film making under the water and monitoring underwater industrial structures and underwater network devices.
TL;DR: This paper evaluates the benefits of adaptive sampling strategies that allow AUVs to change sensing behaviors by modeling and tracking underwater features and shows energy savings of up to 82% in simulations, and 50% and 63% through two at-sea experiments.
TL;DR: The Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems (AMOS) at NTNU (Norway) is as a ten-year research program, 2013-2022, addressing research challenges related to autonomous marine operations and systems applied in eg maritime transportation, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, fisheries and aquaculture, oceans science, offshore renewable energy and marine mining as discussed by the authors.
18 May 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce a newly developed autonomous buoy system that enables remote monitoring of an AUV, which has a dynamic positioning function and can track the target AUV using an acoustic data link and a radio data link.
Abstract: In this paper, we introduce a newly developed autonomous buoy system that enables remote monitoring of an AUV. The buoy system has a dynamic positioning function and can track the target AUV. Using an acoustic data link and a radio data link, the buoy can relay the messages between the AUV and the surface monitoring system of the AUV. The first sea trial was successfully performed in October 2014.