A compact, low-cost unmanned surface vehicle for shallow inshore applications

Metcalfe, Benjamin; Thomas, B.W.J.; Treloar, Alfie; Rymansaib, Zuhayr; Hunter, Alan J.; Wilson, Peter R.

doi:10.1109/intellisys.2017.8324246

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Traditional methods of pond survey included a field crew operating a small wat craft to measure the pond bottom in a systematic grid pattern. Measurements were tak via a level pole, range pole, or sounding wire and were interpolated to create an estimat surface of the pond bottom (Figures 5 and 6) [42,51]. The University of Florida Plant Science Research and Education Unit (UF PSREU a 1086 acre facility which conducts specialty crop research.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bathy-Drone: An Autonomous Uncrewed Drone-Tethered Sonar System

Diaz

Ortega

Tingle

et al. 2022

Drones

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A unique drone-based system for underwater mapping (bathymetry) was developed at the University of Florida. The system, called the “Bathy-drone”, comprises a drone that drags, via a tether, a small vessel on the water surface in a raster pattern. The vessel is equipped with a recreational commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) sonar unit that has down-scan, side-scan, and chirp capabilities and logs GPS-referenced sonar data onboard or transmitted in real time with a telemetry link. Data can then be retrieved post mission and plotted in various ways. The system provides both isobaths and contours of bottom hardness. Extensive testing of the system was conducted on a 5 acre pond located at the University of Florida Plant Science and Education Unit in Citra, FL. Prior to performing scans of the pond, ground-truth data were acquired with an RTK GNSS unit on a pole to precisely measure the location of the bottom at over 300 locations. An assessment of the accuracy and resolution of the system was performed by comparison to the ground-truth data. The pond ground truth had an average depth of 2.30 m while the Bathy-drone measured an average 21.6 cm deeper than the ground truth, repeatable to within 2.6 cm. The results justify integration of RTK and IMU corrections. During testing, it was found that there are numerous advantages of the Bathy-drone system compared to conventional methods including ease of implementation and the ability to initiate surveys from the land by flying the system to the water or placing the platform in the water. The system is also inexpensive, lightweight, and low-volume, thus making transport convenient. The Bathy-drone can collect data at speeds of 0–24 km/h (0–15 mph) and, thus, can be used in waters with swift currents. Additionally, there are no propellers or control surfaces underwater; hence, the vessel does not tend to snag on floating vegetation and can be dragged over sandbars. An area of more than 10 acres was surveyed using the Bathy-drone in one battery charge and in less than 25 min.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bathy-Drone: An Autonomous Uncrewed Drone-Tethered Sonar System

Diaz

Ortega

Tingle

et al. 2022

Drones

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“…Using the above‐mentioned technologies, several studies have been conducted on autonomous ship navigation and validated by field experiments (de Vries et al, 2022; Han et al, 2020; Kufoalor et al, 2020; Metcalfe et al, 2017; Mousazadeh et al, 2018; Villa et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2020). Villa et al (2020) addressed the path‐following experiments of a USV with obstacle avoidance by using LiDAR in harbor conditions.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field experiment of autonomous ship navigation in canal and surrounding nearshore environments

Kim,

Lee,

Chung

et al. 2023

Journal of Field Robotics

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In this paper, we present the development of autonomous navigation capabilities for small cruise boats, and their verification by field experiments in a canal and its surrounding waters. A cruise boat was converted to an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) by installing various sensors and actuators to enable autonomous navigation. Navigation and perception sensors, such as global positioning system, attitude and heading reference system, radar, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and cameras, were mounted on the ASV to estimate its motion and perceive the surrounding environment. Motors and potentiometers were installed for active control of the ASV. Software system components including navigation filters, object‐detection, path‐planning, and control algorithms were designed and implemented. In the narrow canal region, LiDARs were used to detect the side walls and boundaries of the canal. In open areas outside the canal, obstacles and object features were detected using various combinations of onboard sensors. A model‐based path‐planning algorithm was designed to avoid the detected obstacles, and the line‐of‐sight guidance was employed to control the vehicle. The performance of the developed system was verified through a field experiment in a real‐world maritime environment.

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“…A diverse range of aquatic surface robots exist [12,15,17,21,23,24]. The focus of this paper is on introducing the (AnSweR) robot that can easily be transported and operated to conduct research activities in ecosystems with difficult access.…”

Section: Related Research Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Aquatic Surface Robot (AnSweR), a Lightweight, Low Cost, Multipurpose Unmanned Research Vessel

Sanfilippo

Tang

Steyaert

2021

Communications in Computer and Information Science

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Even though a few examples of aquatic surface robots exist, they are generally expensive, relatively large and heavy and tailored to custom-made hardware/software components that are not openly available to a broad public. In this work, the Aquatic Surface Robot (AnSweR), a newly-designed, lightweight, low cost, open-source, multipurpose unmanned research vessel is presented. The An-SweR features a lightweight and compact design that makes it fit in a backpack. Low-noise operation (in and above the surface) is achieved with a propulsion system based on two water-jets. Only affordable commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components are adopted. The primary goal of the AnSweR is to map underwater landscapes and to collect bathymetry data in lakes, rivers, and coastal ecosystems. A modular hardware and software architecture is adopted. This architecture allows the AnSweR to be equipped with a customisable add-on set of sensors and actuators to enable a variety of research activities, such as measuring environmental variables (e.g., salinity, oxygen, temperature) and sampling operations (e.g., sediment, vegetation, microplastics). The software architecture is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS). This paper describes the design of AnSweR as the main scientific contribution and presents preliminary simulation and experimental results which illustrate its potential.

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A compact, low-cost unmanned surface vehicle for shallow inshore applications

Cited by 12 publications

References 3 publications

The Bathy-Drone: An Autonomous Uncrewed Drone-Tethered Sonar System

The Bathy-Drone: An Autonomous Uncrewed Drone-Tethered Sonar System

Field experiment of autonomous ship navigation in canal and surrounding nearshore environments

The Aquatic Surface Robot (AnSweR), a Lightweight, Low Cost, Multipurpose Unmanned Research Vessel

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