Development of a Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention Missions (SAUVIM Phase III-B)

Abstract : SAUVIM (Semi Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention Missions) involves the design and fabrication of an underwater vehicle that it is capable of autonomous interventions on the subsea installations, a task usually carried out by ROVs or human divers. The present final report covers the Phase III-C of SAUVIM. This is the conclusive phase of the project, which hosted further major upgrades and, most important, the demonstration of the first fully autonomous underwater manipulation in an unstructured environment. Submerged in the water, in its final demonstration, SAUVIM first performed the self-calibration routine, initializing its sub-systems. After the calibration step, SAUVIM began its pre-given mission -- to search for and tag an underwater object. The object's location was roughly given. Once the vehicle reached the area surrounding the object, it started scanning the area using a DIDSON camera to locate and identify the target. Once the object was detected, the vehicle approached it and positioned itself for optimized manipulation. Then, while the vehicle was floating in the water column, using the unified coordinated motion control of the vehicle and manipulator system, the vehicle performed an autonomous manipulation task by applying a device to the object for tagging. After completing the mission, the vehicle came back to the dock by using feature-based navigation. The whole sequence was autonomously done and the same mission was successfully repeated four times. This demonstration presented a technological breakthrough in the field as autonomous manipulation had been a bottleneck issue for underwater intervention missions.

[1]  Tamaki Ura,et al.  A hybrid environment for the development of underwater mechatronic systems , 1995, Proceedings of IECON '95 - 21st Annual Conference on IEEE Industrial Electronics.

[2]  Rajiv V. Dubey,et al.  A weighted least-norm solution based scheme for avoiding joint limits for redundant joint manipulators , 1993, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[3]  K. Huebner.  The finite element method for engineers , 1975 .

[4]  Y. Jaluria,et al.  An Introduction to Heat Transfer , 1950 .

[5]  T. Akiba,et al.  Design and testing of an underwater microscope and image processing system for the study of zooplankton distribution , 2000, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[6]  Junku Yuh,et al.  An Adaptive and Learning Control System for Underwater Robots , 1996 .

[7]  Nicholas Ayache,et al.  Artificial vision for mobile robots - stereo vision and multisensory perception , 1991 .

[8]  Shahriar Negahdaripour,et al.  Recovering shape and motion from undersea images , 1990 .

[9]  Richard D. Klafter,et al.  Robotic engineering - an integrated approach , 1989 .

[10]  Richard Valentine,et al.  Motor Control Electronics Handbook , 1998 .

[11]  Tamaki Ura,et al.  A quick adaptation method in a neural network based control system for AUVs , 1994, Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology (AUV'94).

[12]  P. A. DeBitetto.  Fuzzy logic for depth control of Unmanned Undersea Vehicles , 1995 .

[13]  K. R. Goheen,et al.  Multivariable self-tuning autopilots for autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles , 1990 .

[14]  H. Pugh.  The mechanical behaviour of materials under pressure , 1970 .

[15]  Stefano Chiaverini,et al.  Singularity-robust task-priority redundancy resolution for real-time kinematic control of robot manipulators , 1997, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[16]  C. R. Peterson,et al.  Mechanics And Thermodynamics Of Propulsion , 1965 .

[17]  D. M. Kocak,et al.  Computer vision techniques for quantifying, tracking, and identifying bioluminescent plankton , 1999 .

[18]  A. Hay,et al.  A simple system for laser-illuminated video imaging of sediment suspension and bed topography , 1998 .

[19]  Timothy W. McLain,et al.  Experiments in the coordinated control of an underwater arm/vehicle system , 1996, Auton. Robots.

[20]  Junku Yuh,et al.  Experimental study of fault-tolerant system design for underwater robots , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.98CH36146).

[21]  Junku Yuh,et al.  Experimental study on adaptive control of underwater robots , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[22]  M. N. Ghasemi Nejhad,et al.  Thermal Analysis of In-Situ Thermoplastic-Matrix Composite Filament Winding , 1991 .

[23]  Liu Hsu,et al.  Design of a high performance variable structure position control of ROVs , 1995 .

[24]  A. J. Healey,et al.  Multivariable sliding mode control for autonomous diving and steering of unmanned underwater vehicles , 1993 .

[25]  Lorenzo Sciavicco,et al.  The parallel approach to force/position control of robotic manipulators , 1993, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[26]  Charles A. Klein,et al.  Review of pseudoinverse control for use with kinematically redundant manipulators , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[27]  Craig Sayers,et al.  Remote control robotics , 1998 .

[28]  A. D. Young,et al.  An Introduction to Fluid Mechanics , 1968 .

[29]  Joel S. Fox.  Structured Light Imaging In Turbid Water , 1988, Optics & Photonics.

[30]  Kokichi Sugihara,et al.  Genetic Algorithms for Adaptive Planning of Path and Trajectory of a Mobile Robot in 2D Terrains , 1999 .

[31]  A. Yousefpour,et al.  Experimental and Computational Study of APC-2/AS4 Thermoplastic Composite C-Rings , 2001 .

[32]  M. G. Nejhad.  Thermal Analysis for Thermoplastic Composite Tow/Tape Preheating and Pultrusion , 1997 .

[33]  Paolo Rocco,et al.  Toward the implementation of hybrid position/force control in industrial robots , 1997, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[34]  D. Askeland,et al.  The science and engineering of materials , 1984 .

[35]  Gianluca Antonelli,et al.  Task-priority redundancy resolution for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.98CH36146).

[36]  Takashi Kenjo.  Electric Motors And Their Controls: An Introduction , 1991 .

[37]  David M. Lane,et al.  Hybrid position/force control of a hydraulic underwater manipulator , 1996 .

[38]  Bjarne Stroustrup,et al.  C++ Programming Language , 1986, IEEE Softw..

[39]  Katsuhiko Ogata,et al.  Discrete-time control systems , 1987 .

[40]  Kazuhiro Kosuge,et al.  Force control of robot floating on the water utilizing vehicle restoring force , 1997, Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robot and Systems. Innovative Robotics for Real-World Applications. IROS '97.

[41]  Mark W. Spong,et al.  Robot dynamics and control , 1989 .

[42]  E. A. Avellone,et al.  Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers , 1916 .

[43]  Gordon Dodds,et al.  Practical stereo vision and multi-laser scanning in object face detection and orientation determination , 1997, Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robot and Systems. Innovative Robotics for Real-World Applications. IROS '97.

[44]  F. Dougherty,et al.  At-sea testing of an unmanned underwater vehicle flight control system , 1990, Symposium on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology.

[45]  Leonard J. Martini,et al.  Practical Seal Design , 1984 .

[46]  C. Bert,et al.  The behavior of structures composed of composite materials , 1986 .

[47]  Junku Yuh,et al.  Adaptive control of robot manipulators using bound estimation , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Innovations in Theory, Practice and Applications (Cat. No.98CH36190).

[48]  S. Hoerner.  Fluid Dynamic Drag: Practical Information on Aerodynamic Drag and Hydrodynamic Resistance , 1965 .

[49]  Gordon Dodds,et al.  Integration of a stereo multiple-laser ranger system and force sensor in a virtual robotic environment , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Human and Environment Friendly Robots with High Intelligence and Emotional Quotients (Cat. No.99CH36289).

[50]  J. P. Holman,et al.  Experimental methods for engineers , 1971 .

[51]  Pierre Dauchez,et al.  External force control of an industrial puma 560 robot , 1994, J. Field Robotics.

[52]  Tzyh Jong Tarn,et al.  A dynamic model of an underwater vehicle with a robotic manipulator using Kane's method , 1996, Auton. Robots.

[53]  Scott McMillan,et al.  Efficient dynamic simulation of an underwater vehicle with a robotic manipulator , 1995, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[54]  Siemens Aktiengesellschaft,et al.  Electrical engineering handbook , 1969 .

[55]  John J. Craig,et al.  Introduction to Robotics Mechanics and Control , 1986 .

[56]  A. J. Healey,et al.  Slow Speed Flight Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles: Experimental Results with NPS AUV II , 1992 .

[57]  J. Gillespie,et al.  Prediction of Process-Induced Stresses for In-Situ Thermoplastic Filament Winding of Cylinders , 1992 .

[58]  Irving H. Shames,et al.  Introduction to Solid Mechanics , 1975 .

[59]  Bruce Johnson,et al.  Introduction to Naval Architecture , 1982 .

[60]  Junku Yuh,et al.  Experimental study on a learning control system with bound estimation for underwater robots , 1996, Auton. Robots.

[61]  Joseph Edward Shigley,et al.  Mechanical engineering design , 1972 .

[62]  H. H. Wang,et al.  Experiments in automatic retrieval of underwater objects with an AUV , 1995, 'Challenges of Our Changing Global Environment'. Conference Proceedings. OCEANS '95 MTS/IEEE.

[63]  Kazuo Sugihara,et al.  GA-based On-line Path Planning for SAUVIM , 1998, IEA/AIE.

[64]  Fazil O. Sonmez,et al.  Analysis of the On-Line Consolidation Process in Thermoplastic Composite Tape Placement , 1997 .

[65]  Schweitzer,et al.  Corrosion and corrosion protection handbook , 1983 .