Efficient Control of an AUV-Manipulator System: An Application for the Exploration of Europa

Autonomous control of a robotic manipulator mounted on a submersible autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is simulated with various strategies employing combinations of feedback and feedforward control. Feedforward compensation of the manipulator motion is accomplished using a model of the system kinematics and dynamics. Hydrodynamic effects including drag, buoyancy, and added mass, as well as the reaction of the vehicle, are all compensated. Effective manipulator position control is accomplished through stabilization of the vehicle orientation and system barycenter. Stabilization of the vehicle position using feedback and/or feedforward control is also considered for comparison. Compensation of the hydrodynamic effects while stabilizing the vehicle orientation and allowing vehicle translation resulted in a significant reduction in power consumption. Although experimental verification of the results is required, the improvement in efficiency may be beneficial for submersible vehicles operating in extremely remote conditions or extraterrestrial environments such as the oceans of Jupiter's moon, Europa.

[1]  Guillermo C. Gaunaurd,et al.  Acoustic scattering by an air-bubble near the sea surfaceacoustic scattering by an air-bubble near the sea surface , 1995, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[2]  L. Lapierre,et al.  Hybrid position/force control of a ROV with a manipulator , 1998, IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society. OCEANS'98. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.98CH36259).

[3]  Hyeung-Sik Choi,et al.  An Adaptive and Robust Controller for the Undersea Robot Manipulator , 2003 .

[4]  Scott McMillan,et al.  A computational framework for simulation of Underwater Robotic Vehicle systems , 1996, Auton. Robots.

[5]  Naomi Ehrich Leonard.  Control synthesis and adaptation for an underactuated autonomous underwater vehicle , 1995 .

[6]  M. Di Giulio.  The universal ancestor was a thermophile or a hyperthermophile: tests and further evidence. , 2003, Journal of theoretical biology.

[7]  N. Holm,et al.  Abiotic synthesis of organic compounds under the conditions of submarine hydrothermal systems: a perspective. , 1995, Planetary and space science.

[8]  R. Mugnuolo,et al.  The exploitation of Europa ice and water basins , 1999 .

[9]  F.C. Bruhn,et al.  MEMS enablement and analysis of the miniature autonomous submersible explorer , 2005, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[10]  Clark R. Chapman,et al.  Does Europa have a subsurface ocean? Evaluation of the geological evidence , 1999 .

[11]  John Paniagua,et al.  NEMO: A mission to search for and return to Earth possible life forms on Europa , 2005 .

[12]  Liu Hsu,et al.  Dynamic positioning of remotely operated underwater vehicles , 2000, IEEE Robotics Autom. Mag..

[13]  R. Huber,et al.  Towards the ecology of hyperthermophiles: biotopes, new isolation strategies and novel metabolic properties. , 2000, FEMS microbiology reviews.

[14]  Stephen M. Rock,et al.  Model development of an underwater manipulator for coordinated arm-vehicle control , 1998, IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society. OCEANS'98. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.98CH36259).

[15]  Craig R. Carignan,et al.  The reaction stabilization of on-orbit robots , 2000 .

[16]  H. Jannasch.  Review Lecture - The chemosynthetic support of life and the microbial diversity at deep-sea hydrothermal vents , 1985, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[17]  Stefano Chiaverini,et al.  Adaptive tracking control of underwater vehicle-manipulator systems , 1998, Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications (Cat. No.98CH36104).

[18]  T.I. Fossen,et al.  Nonlinear output feedback control of underwater vehicle propellers using feedback form estimated axial flow velocity , 2000, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[19]  J. Baross,et al.  An Hypothesis Concerning the Relationships Between Submarine Hot Springs and the Origin of Life on Earth , 1981 .

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

[21]  R. Lakshmi,et al.  Control of underwater robots in working mode , 1991, Proceedings. 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[22]  P.W. Webb,et al.  Maneuverability - general issues , 2004, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[23]  Timothy W. McLain,et al.  Development and Experimental Validation of an Underwater Manipulator Hydrodynamic Model , 1998, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[24]  M. Russell,et al.  The emergence of life from iron monosulphide bubbles at a submarine hydrothermal redox and pH front , 1997, Journal of the Geological Society.

[25]  E. V. Koval,et al.  Automatic stabilization system of underwater manipulation robot , 1994, Proceedings of OCEANS'94.

[26]  Shaojun Wei,et al.  Advances in the state of the art for AUV inertial sensors and navigation systems , 1994, Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology (AUV'94).

[27]  M. Giulio.  The Universal Ancestor was a Thermophile or a Hyperthermophile: Tests and Further Evidence , 2003 .

[28]  Lionel Lapierre,et al.  Position/Force Control of an Underwater Vehicle Equipped with a Robotic Manipulator , 2000 .

[29]  Junku Yuh,et al.  A neural net controller for underwater robotic vehicles , 1990 .

[30]  John A. Baross,et al.  Submarine hydrothermal vents and associated gradient environments as sites for the origin and evolution of life , 1985, Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere.

[31]  W. Zimmerman,et al.  Exploring Europa's Ocean: A Challenge for Marine Technology of this Century , 1999 .

[32]  S. Chiaverini,et al.  Tracking control for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems with velocity estimation , 2000, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[33]  Carlos Silvestre,et al.  TRIDENT: A Framework for Autonomous Underwater Intervention Missions with Dexterous Manipulation Capabilities , 2010 .

[34]  Dana R. Yoerger,et al.  Design and performance evaluation of an actively compliant underwater manipulator for full-ocean depth , 1991, J. Field Robotics.

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

[36]  S. D. Fleischer,et al.  Station keeping of an ROV using vision technology , 1997, Oceans '97. MTS/IEEE Conference Proceedings.

[37]  Richard W. Longman,et al.  Satellite-Mounted Robot Manipulators — New Kinematics and Reaction Moment Compensation , 1987 .

[38]  A. Ellery,et al.  Exploration of Ellsworth Subglacial Lake: a concept paper on the development, organisation and execution of an experiment to explore, measure and sample the environment of a West Antarctic subglacial lake , 2007 .

[39]  Alex Ellery,et al.  Robotic in-orbit servicers — the need for control moment gyroscopes for attitude control , 2004, The Aeronautical Journal (1968).

[40]  Steven Dubowsky,et al.  The kinematics, dynamics, and control of free-flying and free-floating space robotic systems , 1993, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[41]  Nilanjan Sarkar,et al.  Explicit force control for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems , 2002, Robotica.

[42]  Alex Ellery,et al.  An engineering approach to the dynamic control of space robotic on-orbit servicers , 2004 .

[43]  Gianluca Antonelli,et al.  Fuzzy redundancy resolution and motion coordination for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems , 2003, IEEE Trans. Fuzzy Syst..

[44]  Jean-Jacques E. Slotine,et al.  Robust trajectory control of underwater vehicles , 1985 .

[45]  Gianluca Antonelli,et al.  Adaptive tracking control of underwater vehicle-manipulator systems based on the virtual decomposition approach , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation.