Dexterous Underwater Manipulation from Onshore Locations: Streamlining Efficiencies for Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles

TLDR

Underwater manipulation is challenging, dominated by ROVs that require large crews and manual control, with customers often present offshore. While much research exists on AUVs for inspection and exploration, there remains opportunity to add intelligent autonomous functions for intervention missions. ROV operations typically require an offshore crew consisting of at least an intendant (or supervisor), an operator, and a navigator.

Abstract

Underwater manipulation is a challenging problem. The state-of-the-art technology is dominated by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). ROV operations typically require an offshore crew consisting of, at minimum, an intendant (or supervisor), an operator, and a navigator. This crew must often be doubled or even tripled due to work shifts. In addition, customer representatives often wish to be physically present offshore. Furthermore, underwater intervention missions are still dominated by a significant amount of lowlevel, manual control of the manipulator(s) and of the vehicle itself. While there is a significant amount of research on autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in general and fieldable solutions already exist for inspection and exploration missions, possibilities remain for adding intelligent autonomous functions for interventions.