Autonomous Underwater Manipulation: Current Trends in Dynamics, Control, Planning, Perception, and Future Directions

Morgan, E.; Carlucho, Ignacio; Ard, W.B.; Barbalata, Corina

doi:10.1007/s43154-022-00089-2

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Meanwhile, recent developments in autonomous underwater intervention with a focus on control systems are demonstrated in ( Simetti, 2020 ), where examples of successful free floating manipulation are presented. Similar reviews provide information about recent developments in manipulator or sensor technology ( Cong et al, 2021 ; Morgan et al, 2022 ). Compared to the review papers presented here, this paper seeks to create a link between recent technological developments and how they can be used for existing inspection and maintenance methods and to identify gaps which still need to be covered by ROVs or human divers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inspection and maintenance of industrial infrastructure with autonomous underwater robots

Nauert,

Kampmann

2023

Front. Robot. AI

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Underwater infrastructure, such as pipelines, requires regular inspection and maintenance including cleaning, welding of defects and valve-turning or hot-stabbing. At the moment, these tasks are mostly performed by divers and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) but the use of intervention Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (intervention-AUVs) can greatly reduce operation time, risk, and cost. However, autonomous underwater manipulation has not yet reached a high technological readiness and is an intensively researched topic. This review identifies key requirements based on necessary inspection and maintenance methods, linking them to the current technology and deriving major challenges which need to be addressed in development. These include the handling of tools, where a separation between handheld and mounted tools is detected in already employed underwater intervention vehicles such as the Sabertooth by Saab Seaeye or the Aquanaut by Nauticus robotics, two vehicles capable of semi-autonomous intervention. The main challenge identified concerns high level autonomy, i.e., the process of decision-making. This process includes detecting the correct point of interest, maximizing the workspace of the manipulator, planning the manipulation considering required forces, and monitoring the progress to allow for corrections and high quality results. In order to overcome these issues, reliable close range sensing and precise end point navigation is needed. By identifying these persisting challenges, the paper provides inspiration for further development directions in the field of autonomous underwater intervention.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%