The European Project MORPH: Distributed UUV Systems for Multimodal, 3D Underwater Surveys

Abstract

Abstract The MORPH project (FP 7, 2012‐2016) is aimed at developing efficient methods and tools to map the underwater environment in situations that are not easily addressed by current technology. Namely, the missions that are of interest are those that involve underwater surveying and marine habitat mapping of rugged terrain and structures with full 3D complexity, including vertical cliffs. Potential applications include the study of cold water coral reef communities, ecosystems from underwater canyons, pipeline and harbor monitoring, or the inspection of wind turbine foundations. The project introduced and advanced a novel concept of an underwater robotic system composed of a number of mobile robot modules (nodes), carrying complementary sensors for perception of the environment. Instead of being physically coupled, the modules are connected via communication links that allow a flow of essential information among them. Without rigid links, the so-called MORPH Supra-Vehicle can reconfigure itself and adapt according to the environment and mission goals, responding, for example, to the shape of the terrain, including vertical walls. The flexibility allows for more optimal positioning of each sensor, increased number of simultaneous viewpoints, and generally high-resolution data collection.MORPH is aimed at providing a proof-of-concept demonstration of such capabilities, an effort that includes technological developments in many of the subfields of underwater technology. The main results are summarized and presented in this paper.<def-list> Abbreviation List <def-item><term>AUV</term><def>autonomous underwater vehicles</def></def-item><def-item><term>CV</term><def>camera vehicle</def></def-item><def-item><term>CWC</term><def>cold water corals</def></def-item><def-item><term>GCV</term><def>global navigation and communications vehicle</def></def-item><def-item><term>ICP</term><def>iterative closest point method</def></def-item><def-item><term>LSV</term><def>local sonar vehicle</def></def-item><def-item><term>MBES</term><def>multibeam echosounder</def></def-item><def-item><term>MCL</term><def>mission control language</def></def-item><def-item><term>PF</term><def>path following</def> </def-item><def-item><term>PI</term><def>principal investigator</def></def-item><def-item><term>ROF</term><def> range-only formation</def></def-item><def-item><term>ROS</term><def>Robot Operation System</def></def-item><def-item><term>SSV</term><def>surface support vessel</def></def-item> <def-item> <term>TDMA</term> <def> time division multiple access </def> </def-item><def-item><term>USBL</term><def>ultra-short baseline (navigation)</def></def-item> <def-item> <term>UUV</term> <def> unmanned underwater vehicle </def> </def-item><def-item><term>VCS</term><def>version control system</def></def-item></def-list>