Intervention AUVs: The Next Challenge

Abstract

While commercially available AUVs are routinely used in survey missions, a new set of applications exists which clearly demand intervention capabilities. The maintenance of: permanent observatories underwater; submerged oil wells; cabled sensor networks; pipes; and the deployment and recovery of benthic stations are but a few of them. These tasks are addressed nowadays using manned submersibles or work-class ROVs, equipped with teleoperated arms under human supervision. Although researchers have recently opened the door to future I-AUVs, a long path is still necessary to pave the way to underwater intervention applications performed in an autonomous way. This paper reviews the evolution timeline in autonomous underwater intervention systems. Milestone projects in the state of the art are reviewed, highlighting their principal contributions to the field. To the best of the authors knowledge only three vehicles have demonstrated some autonomous intervention capabilities so far: ALIVE, SAUVIM and GIRONA 500 I-AUV. Next, GIRONA 500 I-AUV is presented and its software architecture discussed. Recent results in different scenarios are reported: 1) Valve turning and connector plugging/unplugging while docked to a sub-sea panel, 2) Free floating valve turning using learning by demonstration, and 3) Free floating multipurpose multisensory based object recovery. The paper ends discussing the lessons learned so far and presenting the authors view of the future.

The underwater swimming manipulator - a bio-inspired AUV

“…AUVs equipped with one or more robotic arms are commonly referred to as intervention AUVs (I-AUVs) [12]. The AUVs developed through the research projects ALIVE, SAUVIM, and RAUVI/Trident have all demonstrated autonomous intervention capabilities [12].…”

“…The AUVs developed through the research projects ALIVE, SAUVIM, and RAUVI/Trident have all demonstrated autonomous intervention capabilities [12]. Earlier this year, the hybrid ROV/AUV system H-ROV Ariane was officially presented by the ECA Group and Ifremer [13], [14].…”

Navigation and manipulation for autonomous underwater dismantling of offshore structures

“…However, these tasks have only been performed while docked to a subsea panel, which avoids the free-flight challenge presented in many decommissioning environments where preexisting vehicle docking infrastructure is not readily available [46]. In this chapter, a mechanical design is posed as a solution for simplifying the anchoring process into a single mechanism that eliminates the peg-in-hole problem completely, and can facilitate both ROV pilot and autonomous system performance.…”

A control framework for biologically inspired underwater swimming manipulators equipped with thrusters**This research was partly funded by the Research Council of Norway through the Centres of Excellence funding scheme, project No. 223254 NTNU AMOS, and partly funded by VISTA, a basic research program in collaboration between The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and Statoil.

“…In particular, there has been an increasing interest for developing AUVs with hovering capabilities, precise maneuverability, and ability to operate in confined areas. AUVs equipped with robotic arms, so-called intervention AUVs (I-AUVs) (Ridao et al, 2014), are also experiencing increased attention. The dexterity of these manipulator equipped AUVs are however quite crude.…”