studies-rov_2022-a

Studies of ROV concepts 2022 - Part A

Date of publication: 2022 Authors: Xiong Wu, Du Jiang, Juntong Yun, Xin Liu, Ying Sun, Bo Tao, Xiliang Tong, Manman Xu, Jianyi Kong, Ying Liu, Guojun Zhao, & Zifan Fang. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are often subject to many interferences, which cause poor control stability while performing their tasks. In this paper, a decoupling control algorithm is proposed, and a single control volume/single attitude angle model is constructed for the coupling in the control system of the attitude of six degrees of freedom Autonomous Underwater Vehicle… etc…

Authors: Thanh Le Xuan, Tuan Phan Anh, Duong Tran Khanh, Dong Nguyen, & Tung Pham Xuan. This paper presents research and development on communication and control for Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROV). For communication and control of the ROV from a Ground Control Station (GCS) on a mothership or land, a lightweight messaging protocol for communicating with ROV based on developing MAVLink has been used. The communication and control system of the ROV from a GCS includes two steps: Communication between the ROV and a float is conducted via electrical cable, & communication between the float and a GCS on mothership or land via wireless technology.

40 - A Novel Bio-Inspired Path Planning for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Search and Tracing of Underwater Target

Date of publication: 2022 Authors: Adnan Elahi Khan Khalil, Shahzad Anwar, Ghassan Husnain. Atif Elahi, & Zhang Dong. Underwater search and tracing is a complex engineering problem due to various factors, such as unpredicted oceanic environment, poor communications, underwater navigations. Therefore, an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) cooperation is needed to accomplish challenging missions. This study focuses on searching and tracing an underwater target based on an improved cooperative path planning model.

Date of publication: 2022 Authors: Pedro Daniel de Cerqueira Gava, Cairo Lúcio Nascimento Júnior, Juan R. B. F. Silva, & Geraldo José Adabo. This article presents an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle simulator named Simu2VITA 1, designed to be rapid to set up, easy to use, and simple to modify the vehicle’s parameters.

Authors: Mingyue Cheng, Quansheng Guan, Fei Ji, Julian Cheng, & Yankun Chen Marine science and Internet of underwater things applications rely significantly on collecting data from underwater sensors. Data collection using long-distance underwater acoustic communications consumes a lot of energy in underwater sensor nodes, which are powered by batteries. To achieve low-energy consumption, we can use the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to move close to sensor nodes and exploit the short-range and high-rate communications.

24 - Online paths planning method for unmanned surface vehicles based on rapidly exploring random tree and a cooperative potential field

Authors: Naifeng Wen, Lingling Zhao, Ru-Bo Zhang, Shuai Wang, Guanqun Liu, Junwei Wu, and Liyuan Wang. The unstructured, dynamic marine environmental information and the cooperative obstacle avoidance problem significantly challenge the online path planner for unmanned surface vehicles. Efficiency and optimization are crucial for online path planning schemes. For this reason, the authors proposed an algorithmic combination of the optimal rapidly exploring random tree and artificial potential field methods.

Authors: Josep Bosch, Pere Ridao, Rafael Garcia and Nuno Gracias Omnidirectional cameras underwater enable many new and exciting applications in multiple fields. Among them, Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROVs) will be piloted directly using the images captured by omnidirectional cameras through virtual reality (VR) headsets. This immersive experience will extend the pilot’s spatial awareness and reduce the usual orientation problems during missions. This paper presents this concept and illustrates it with the first experiments for achieving this purpose.

Authors: Lin Zhao, Mingxi Zhou, Brice Loose, Virginia Cousens, Raymond Turrisi An affordable Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) has been modified for under-ice sensing. This paper presents the system upgrade, including sensor integration, electronics, and navigation stack. The new ROV is equipped with a Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), an attitude heading reference system (AHRS) for navigation, a stereo camera, and a forward-looking imaging sonar for perception.

Author: Gokhan Atal This article focuses on passive self-management of the umbilical of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for underwater exploration. The goal is to give a predictable shape to the umbilical, using moving ballasts and buoys to stretch the umbilical to avoid entanglement of the cable itself or with surrounding obstacles. The ballasts and buoys move to maintain the cable taut without a motorized system. A model of the umbilical is proposed. The presence of waves, as well as the cases with and without currents, are considered. Three configurations of the umbilical are offered, each to be the most adapted to ROV exploration missions: near the surface, sea exploration, and diving in the presence of significant obstacles.

Author: Christophe Viel. This article focuses on passive self-management of the umbilical of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for underwater exploration. The goal is to give a predictable shape to the umbilical, using moving ballasts and buoys to stretch the umbilical to avoid entanglement of the cable itself or with surrounding obstacles. The ballasts and buoys move to maintain the cable taut without a motorized system. A model of the umbilical is proposed. The presence of waves, as well as the cases with and without currents, are considered. Three configurations of the umbilical are offered, each to be the most adapted to ROV exploration missions: near the surface, sea exploration, and diving in the presence of significant obstacles.

Author: Bolun Huang and Qi Yang The open-frame structure of work-class ROVs results in significant model uncertainties, and its motion is strongly disturbed by the umbilical cable. To address these problems, this article developed a nonlinear disturbance observer-based super-twisting double-loop sliding-mode control (NDO-STDSMC) method to achieve trajectory tracking control of work-class ROVs with system uncertainties and external disturbances.

23 - Total Design in the Design and Development Process of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) with Particular Consideration of Sensorization.

Authors: Teresa Ramos, Antonio Córdoba, Amalia Luque, and Ana de las Heras This paper provides a methodological proposal for the design and development process of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The design core and product design specifications (PDS) of Pugh’s Total Design model are considered, focusing on the early stages of the product design and development process.

Authors: Waseem Akram, Alessandro Casavola, Nadir Kapetanovi, and Nikola Miškovic Aquaculture net pens inspection and monitoring are essential to ensure net stability and fish health in the fish farms. Based on the fact that Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) offer a low-cost and sophisticated solution for the regular inspection of the underwater fish net pens, the authors discuss the integration of an ROV for regular inspection and tracking of nets.

Authors: Zhiwei Yu, Kai Li, Yu Ji, Simon X. Yang In the last few years, there have been many new developments and significant accomplishments in the research of bionic robot fishes. However, in terms of swimming performance, existing bionic robot fishes lag far behind fish, prompting researchers to constantly develop innovative designs of various bionic robot fishes. In this paper, the latest designs of robot fishes are presented in detail, distinguished by the propulsion mode.

Authors: Shijun Shen, Chaofan Wang, Zhiqiang Qiu, Zhiwu Ke, and Dawei Gong An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) can only carry limited energy for improved flexibility. In this study, a multi-energy acquisition model is established to manage the AUV’s energy, which includes a heart rate sampling system, a mixed-energy circuit topology, and a maximum power output algorithm of environmental energy based on power trajectory tracking..

Authors: Zuhayr Rymansaib, Benjamin Thomas, Alfred Anthony Treloar, Benjamin Metcalfe, Peter Wilson, Alan Hunter. Underwater crime scene investigation and emergency response are tasks typically carried out by divers constituting part of a specialist team. Operating in such dynamic environments, often with poor visibility and risk of concealed hazards, can be time-consuming and dangerous. Autonomous uncrewed vessels with underwater acoustic imaging sensors have been used for similar purposes in other fields (e.g., hydrography, naval mine countermeasures, etc.). Still, they have not been adopted in this specific application domain.

Authors: Ri Lin, Yucheng Zhao, Dejun Li, Mingwei Lin, and Canjun Yang. This paper proposes an underwater electromagnetic guidance method based on the magnetic dipole model to address the poor effect of optical/visual guidance used in AUV terminal docking with strong background light and turbid water quality.

Authors: Jielun Fang, Yanfeng Zhuang, Kailang Liu, Zhuo Chen, Zhou Liu, Tiantian Kong, Jianhong Xu, and Cheng Qi Research field of soft robotics is developing exponentially, as it opens up many possibilities, such as human- interactive robots, wearable robots, and transformable robots in unpredictable environments. Wet environments, such as the sea and in vivo, represent dynamic and unstructured environments where adaptive soft robots can reach their full potential. Recent progress in soft hybridized robotics performing tasks underwater heralds a diversity of interactive soft robotics in wet environments. This document reviews the development of soft robots in wet environments.

Authors: Angela Mazzeo, Jacopo Aguzzi, Marcello Calisti, Simonepietro Canese, Fabrizio Vecchi, Sergio Stefanni, and Marco Controzzi The collection of delicate deep-sea specimens of biological interest with remotely operated vehicle (ROV) industrial grippers and tools is a lengthy and costly procedure. Industrial grippers were originally designed for heavy manipulation tasks, whereas sampling specimens requires dexterity and precision. The document describes the grippers and tools commonly used in underwater sampling for scientific purposes, systematically reviews the state of the art of research in underwater gripping technologies, and identifies design trends.

Authors: Samuel M. Youssef, MennaAllah,, Mahmood A. Saleh, Mostafa A. Mousa, Mahmoud Elsamanty, and Ahmed G. Radwan As rigid systems become increasingly limited in their capabilities to perform complex tasks and adapt to their environment, like living creatures, the need for soft systems has become more prominent due to the similar complex, compliant, and flexible characteristics they share with intelligent natural systems. This review provides an overview of the recent developments in the soft robotics, with a focus on the underwater applications.

21 - Glowing Sucker Octopus (Stauroteuthis syrtensis)-Inspired Soft Robotic Gripper for Underwater Self-Adaptive Grasping and Sensingy

Authors: Samuel M. Youssef, MennaAllah,, Mahmood A. Saleh, Mostafa A. Mousa, Mahmoud Elsamanty, and Ahmed G. Radwan As rigid systems become increasingly limited in their capabilities to perform complex tasks and adapt to their environment, like living creatures, the need for soft systems has become more prominent due to the similar complex, compliant, and flexible characteristics they share with intelligent natural systems. This review provides an overview of the recent developments in the soft robotics, with a focus on the underwater applications.

Authors: Lei Li, Siqi Wang, Yiyuan Zhang, Shanyuan Song, Chuqian Wang, Shaochang Tan, Wei Zhao, Gang Wang, Wenguang Sun, Fuqiang Yang, Jiaqi Liu, Bohan Chen , Haoyuan Xu, Pham Nguyen, Mirko Kovac, Li Wen Many real-world applications for robots, such as long- term aerial and underwater observation, cross-medium operations, and marine life surveys, require robots with the ability to move between the air-water boundary. This study describes an aerial-aquatic hitchhiking robot that is self-contained for flying, swimming, and attaching to surfaces in both air and water, and that can seamlessly move.

Authors: Zhong Shen, Hua Zhong, Erchao Xu, Runzhi Zhang, Ki Chun Yip, Lawrence Long Chan, Leo Lai Chan, Jia Pan, Wenping Wang, and Zheng Wang This study proposes a novel approach to underwater manipulator design and control, exploiting the characteristics of soft robots with a hybrid structure for improved rigidity and force output.

Authors: Bo Huang, Zhongyan Liu, Yujing Xu, Qiaochu Ding, Guanjie You, Mengchun Pan, Jiafei Hu, Qi Zhang The frequent pitching motion of underwater vehicles during the mission will produce a more complex hydrodynamic wake, which is important for detecting and tracking underwater vehicles. In this paper, a numerical method is presented to simulate the wakefield during the pitching motion of an underwater vehicle by combining the dynamic overset grid method.

Authors: Rafsan Al Shafatul Islam Subad, Md Mahmud Hasan Saikot, and Kihan Park Tactile information is crucial for recognizing physical interactions, manipulating objects, and planning motion for a robotic gripper. However, current tactile technologies have certain limitations, particularly directional force sensing. In particular, they are expensive, difficult to fabricate, and mostly unsuitable for underwater use. This study presents a cost-effective synthesis technique for a flexible, multi-directional force-sensing system.

Authors: Sander C. Van den Berg, Rob B.N. Scharff, Zoltán Rusák, Jun Wu This document presents “OpenFish”, an open-source soft robotic fish optimized for speed and efficiency. It uses a combination of an active and passive tail segment to accurately mimic the thunniform swimming mode. Through the implementation of a novel propulsion system that is capable of achieving higher oscillation frequencies with a more sinusoidal waveform. It reaches a top speed of 0.85 m/s and outperforms the previously reported fastest soft robotic fish by 27%.

Authors: Boai Sun, Weikun Li, Zhangyuan Wang, Yunpeng Zhu, Qu He, Xinyan Guan, Guangmin Dai, Dehan Yuan, Ang Li, Weicheng Cui, and Dixia Fan Bio-inspired fish robots have the advantages of high efficiency, high maneuverability, low noise, and minor fluid disturbance. Therefore, they have gained increasing research interest, which has led to a great deal of remarkable progress, theoretically and practically, in recent years. This review highlights the authors’ enhanced scientific understanding of bio-inspired propulsion and sensing underwater and then presents the research progress and performance characteristics of different bio- inspired robot fish classified by the propulsion method.

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Authors: Vishnu Kandimalla, Matt Richard, Frank Smith, Jean Quirion, Luis Torgo, and Chris Whidden The Ocean Aware project, supported by Innovasea and Canada's Ocean Supercluster, is developing a new method to monitor fish without tagging them. The system employs sensors like acoustic devices, sonar, and cameras in place of conventional tracking methods, which are unsuitable for endangered fish. This technology will help scientists study and monitor these fish more effectively, particularly in areas such as fish passages or energy sites.

Authors: Andre Jesus, Claudio Zito, Claudio Tortorici, Eloy Roura, Giulia De Masi This paper reviews the problem of object detection in underwater environments. The authors analyze and quantify the limitations of conventional state-of-the-art (SOTA) algorithms in computer vision when applied to this challenging environment. They also provide insights and general guidelines for future research

Authors: Sara Aldhaheri, Giulia De Masi, `Eric Pairet, Paola Ardon This paper discusses previous research and the limiting factors that affect the long-held prospects of autonomous underwater manipulation. It then highlights research directions that have the potential to improve the autonomy capabilities of Intervention Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (I-AUVs).

Authors: Kai Hu, Chenghang Weng, Yanwen Zhang, Junlan Jin, and Qingfeng Xia This paper discusses why underwater images are often of low quality and how this impacts the ability of the ability to recognize objects. It explains the degradation of image quality and the use of deep learning technology to improve it. The paper also explores other methods to enhance underwater video, typical datasets, and ways to measure image/video quality. Lastly, it looks at future improvements in underwater imaging.

29 - A digital twins enabled underwater intelligent internet vehicle path planning system via reinforcement learning and edge computing.

Authors: Jiachen Yang, Meng Xi, Jiabao Wen, Yang Li, Houbing Herbert Song Underwater gliders are popular, and figuring out their routes is crucial. The ocean is challenging because it's constantly changing, making planning a good route difficult. Traditional methods are ineffective because they're inflexible. The authors propose a new system to enhance the intelligence of these underwater vehicles regarding their routes.

Authors: Nahuel Garcia-d’Urso, alejandro Galan-Cuenca, Paula Pérez-Sánchez, Pau Climent-Pérez, andres Fuster-Guillo, Jorge azorin-Lopez, Marcelo Saval-Calvo, Juan Eduardo Guillén-Nieto, & Gabriel Soler-Capdepón This paper presents a dataset of images of fish trays from a local wholesale fish market. It contains pixel-wise (mask) labeled specimens, along with species information and various size measurements.

Authors: Angela Mazzeo, Jacopo Aguzzi, Marcello Calisti, Simonepietro Canese, Michela Angiolillo, A. Louise Allcock, Fabrizio Vecchi, Sergio Stefanni, and Marco Controzzi This study aims to improve scientific sampling procedures in marine environments by developing a gripping system or control strategy, outlining the process of gathering data from researchers and ROV operators to understand current sampling procedures and identify the requirements for new end-effectors. It emphasizes the need for a versatile system capable of handling the challenges posed by the deep-sea environment.

Authors: Shay Osler, and Timothy Sands This article discusses advancements in the control of unmanned ocean vehicles, specifically focusing on the application of deterministic artificial intelligence (DAI) for improving the heading control of a simulated remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). It highlights the shift from classical methods of trajectory tracking using negative feedback to newer methods involving DAI, which combines optimal learning with self-awareness through a governing mathematical model.

Authors: Carlos A. Zuluaga, Luis M. Aristizábal, Santiago Rúa, Diego A. Franco, Dorie A. Osorio, and Rafael E. Vásquez This paper intends to describe the development process and methodology for creating a modular software architecture for a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) using systems engineering principles, outlining a basic model of traditional systems engineering to define stakeholder interactions and development baselines. The paper also discusses the integration of software architecture with hardware using the actor model and details the implementation of object-oriented programming for class structure.

Authors: Zhiguo Zhou, Xinxin Hu, Zeming Li, Zhao Jing, and Chong Qu This study proposes a new fusion algorithm for detecting and tracking unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), highlighting the challenges faced by current algorithms in accurately detecting and tracking USVs due to factors like small target size and environmental interference. It then introduces the proposed solution, which involves a fusion algorithm that combines detection and tracking techniques to improve accuracy and reduce issues like missed detection and tracking drift. It also mentions the creation of datasets to test the algorithm and claims that the fusion algorithm shows superior performance compared to using detection or tracking algorithms alone.

Authors: Huang Jinwei1, Ge Xinfeng, Chu Dongdong Chu, Zhang Jing, Xu Bing, Gao Fei, Zheng yuan This article investigates the effects of nozzle eccentricity on the jet characteristics of an impulse turbine’s jet mechanism. Focusing on how differing levels of eccentricity affect jet asymmetry and overall turbine efficiency, the study begins with an analysis of various jet openings while maintaining a constant eccentricity. The findings reveal that increased eccentricity leads to more irregular jet shapes and decreased efficiency, particularly accelerating after an eccentricity threshold of 4.8%.

Authors: Pengfei Xu, Chenbo Han, Tao Lv and Hongxia Cheng Fixed-point underwater hovering is essential for ROVs inspecting structures like ports and offshore wind facilities. This study proposes an underwater wall absorber, explains its working principle, analyzes adsorption factors via numerical simulations, and validates a prototype with results matching simulations, suggesting significant prospects for ROV applications.

Authors: Zhe Jiang, Bin Lu, Biao Wang, Weicheng Cui, Jinfei Zhang, Ruilong Luo, Gaosheng Luo, Shun Zhang, and Zhongjun Mao To advance hadal trench research, Shanghai Ocean University’s Hadal Science and Technology Research Center (HAST) developed the full-ocean-depth (FOD) autonomous and remotely-operated vehicle (ARV) 'Dream Chaser', launched in July 2018. Featuring a novel three- body design, it supports dual-mode operation for observation, sampling, surveying, and mapping. This paper details its system design methodology and validates it through numerical simulations and extensive experimental testing.

35 - Model-Free High-Order Sliding Mode Controller for Station- Keeping of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle in Manipulation Task: Simulations and Experimental Validation

Authors: Josué González-García, Alfonso Gómez-Espinosa, Luis Govinda García-Valdovinos, Tomás Salgado- Jiménez, Enrique Cuan-Urquizo, and Jesús Arturo Escobedo Cabello This paper proposes and validates a model-free high-order sliding mode controller for station-keeping of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), crucial for inspection, maintenance, and repair tasks. Unlike existing robust controllers, which are typically model-based or rely on disturbance observers, the proposed approach requires no system model or observer and handles unknown external disturbances directly. It is evaluated via numerical simulations and real-world experiments in a semi-Olympic pool.