Advanced ROV Autonomy for Efficient Remote Control in the DexROV Project

Abstract

In this paper, we present DexROV, a funded EC Horizon 2020 project that proposes to implement novel operation strategies for underwater semi-autonomous interventions. These costly and demanding operations are more and more often performed by ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), contributing to risks cutting for human divers. However ROV operations require offshore structures, hosted on a support vessel with a crew of a significant amount of personnel necessary to properly handle and operate the robotic platform. One of the key goals of DexROV is to delocalize on-shore the manned support as much as possible, reducing the crew onboard the support vessel and consequently the whole operation costs and risks. The Control Center is located onshore, far away from the actual operation location. Operators interact with the ROV through a simulation environment that exploit 3D models of the environment built online relying on the perception and modeling capabilities of the robotic system and transmitted via satellite communication. Currently ROVs lack the dexterous capabilities needed to perform many kind of operations, for which human divers are still necessary. DexROV addresses this problem, equipping the ROV with two 6 DoF (Degrees of Freedom) dexterous manipulators with anthropomorphic end-effectorsand providing semi-autonomous capabilities. The control will rely on a multi-task priority approach that will help the operator to focus on the main operation, leaving the low-level tasks to be autonomously performed by the ROV.

Autonomous Underwater Intervention: Experimental Results of the MARIS Project

“…Nowadays, some of the authors are involved in an on-going Horizon 2020 project called DexROV [46], which focuses on increasing the autonomy of ROV operations to allow a supervised teleoperation from remote sites. The MARIS control framework is being currently integrated with a cognitive engine to cope with the latency problems of remote teleoperation.…”

ISME activity on the use of Autonomous Surface and Underwater Vehicles for acoustic surveys at sea

“…In the recent years, ISME has been involved in several National and European Projects concerning acoustics and marine robotics, as e.g. [1], [2]. The full list of projects can be found on the internet portal: http://www.isme.unige.it…”

Satellite-Based Tele-Operation of an Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System. Preliminary Experimental Results

“…Within the European H2020 project DexROV [6], [7], the researchers are investigating the possibility to reduce the number of crew on board of the vessel by creating a remote control room linked by satellite communication to the UVMS (Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System). The operator may interact with the system by joystick or exoskeleton and a proper cognitive tool is in charge of handling communication latency or interruptions caused by the satellite link.…”