Distributed virtual environment collaborative simulator for underwater robots

This paper describes a distributed virtual environment collaborative simulator (DVECS) for testing of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) where both real and simulated vehicles-remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV)-can interact and cooperate in a hybrid, synthetic, virtual environment containing various types of real and simulated vehicles, obstacles, conditions and disturbances. This virtual system can be used to determine (1) the optimal performance criteria for the vehicles and its application, (2) the advantages and disadvantages of collaborative application tasks between multiple UUV, and (3) the optimal communication links between remote locations. The current DVECS is being tested between the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and the University of Tokyo in Tokyo as a joint, international research program. It also utilizes virtual reality projection system, which immerses the user for optimal visualization.