Visual SLAM for underwater vehicles: A survey

Underwater scene is highly unstructured, full of various noise interferences. Moreover, GPS information is not available in the underwater environment, which thus brings huge challenges to the navigation of autonomous underwater vehicle. As an autonomous navigation technology, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) can deliver reliable localization to vehicles in unknown environment and generate models about their surrounding environment. With the development and utilization of marine and other underwater resources, underwater SLAM has become a hot research topic. By focusing on underwater visual SLAM, this paper reviews the basic theories and research progress regarding underwater visual SLAM modules, such as sensors, visual odometry, state optimization and loop closure detection, discusses the challenges faced by underwater visual SLAM, and shares the prospects of underwater visual SLAM. It is found that the traditional underwater visual SLAM based on filtering methods is gradually developing towards optimization-based methods. Underwater visual SLAM presents a diversified trend, and various new methods have emerged. This paper aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of the current status and development trend of underwater visual SLAM, while offering help for collecting underwater vehicles intelligence.     

Position and Velocity Filters for ASC/I-AUV Tandems Based on Single Range Measurements

This paper proposes novel cooperative navigation solutions for an Intervention Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (I-AUV) working in tandem with an Autonomous Surface Craft (ASC). The I-AUV is assumed to be moving in the presence of constant unknown ocean currents, and aims to estimate its position relying on measurements of its range to the ASC. Two different scenarios are considered: in the first scenario, the ASC transmits its position and velocity to the I-AUV, and the I-AUV has access to readings of its velocity relative to the water. In the second scenario, the ASC transmits only its position, and the I-AUV has access to measurements of its velocity relative to the ASC. In both cases, it is assumed that an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) mounted on-board the I-AUV provides measurements of its attitude and angular velocity. A sufficient condition for observability and a method for designing state observers with Globally Asymptotically Stable (GAS) error dynamics are presented for both problems. Finally, simulation results are included and discussed to assess the performance of the proposed solutions in the presence of measurement noise.     

鱼群启发的水下传感器节点布置

水下传感器网络(Underwater sensor networks, UWSNs)可用于海洋资源勘测、污染监控和辅助导航等领域, 已成为无线传感器网络方向的研究热点. 在开放式复杂的水下环境中监测目标具有高动态和不确定的特点, 节点如何根据环境和目标的变化自主调整位置, 以达到对监测目标的优化覆盖是一个关键问题. 本文描述了水下传感器节点布置问题, 定义了性能评价指标"事件集覆盖效能", 并提出了一种鱼群启发的水下传感器节点布置算法, 通过模拟鱼群行为, 并结合拥挤度控制, 使节点自主趋向并覆盖事件, 同时实现节点分布密度与事件分布密度相匹配. 大量对比仿真实验结果表明该算 法可以有效解决水下传感器节点布置问题, 并具有复杂度低、计算量小、收敛速度快和分布式可实现的优点.     

水声通信网络设计与OPNET平台下仿真

水声通信网络是当代海洋研究、海洋资源勘探和开发、海洋环境立体监测、地震海啸监测和战术监测等水下系统无线信息传输的主要手段,但其性能受水声信道特性影响严重。采用OPNET对水声通信网络节点模型与分层协议进行设计与实现,包括基于MC-CDMA的多用户检测以及基本CSMA/CA机制的信道握手流程与网络分配向量（NAV）帧冲突处理机制等。同时建立并测试了一个包含1个主节点与4个传感器节点的水声通信网络,仿真结果表明设计的水声通信网络能够更好的克服冲突,减少数据包重发,从而获得更高水声通信网络的吞吐量,减少端对端传输延时与能量消耗。     

多AUV协同导航问题的研究现状与进展

自主水下航行器(Autonomous underwater vehicle, AUV)协同导航是未来50年解决水下中间层区域AUV导航定位的重要方法. 本文针对多AUV协同导航, 对该领域相关问题的研究进展进行了综述, 包括: 1)论述多AUV协同导航领域的研究现状, 包括协同导航问题界定、特点综述与讨论; 2)分析多AUV协同导航系统模型及相关算法的研究进展, 包括基于优化的、 基于参数估计的和基于贝叶斯估计的滤波算法; 3)对协同导航网络下的误差建模与补偿方法的研究进展进行了综述, 包括未知洋流的影响、水声通信延迟补偿等; 4)从影响协同导航定位精度的角度出发, 对AUV协同导航的可观测性与编队最优构型设计的研究进展进行了一系列的分析; 5)陈述目前多AUV协同导航中存在的关键问题, 并讨论其发展趋势.     

Robot-Assisted Bridge Inspection

The Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR®) deployed a customized AEOS man-portable unmanned surface vehicle and two commercially available underwater vehicles (the autonomous YSI EcoMapper and the tethered VideoRay) for inspection of the Rollover Pass bridge in the Bolivar peninsula of Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. A preliminary domain analysis with the vehicles identified key tasks in subsurface bridge inspection (mapping of the debris field and inspecting the bridge footings for scour), control challenges (navigation under loss of GPS, underwater obstacle avoidance, and stable positioning in high currents without GPS), possible improvements to human-robot interaction (having additional display units so that mission specialists can view and operate on imagery independently of the operator control unit, incorporating 2-way audio to allow operator and field personnel to communicate while launching or recovering the vehicle, and increased state sensing for reliability), and discussed the cooperative use of surface, underwater, and aerial vehicles. The article posits seven milestones in the development of a fully functional UMV for bridge inspection: standardize mission payloads, add health monitoring, improve teleoperation through better human-robot interaction, add 3D obstacle avoidance, improve station-keeping, handle large data sets, and support cooperative sensing.     

基于多AUV间任务协作的水下多目标探测机制

利用自主式水下航行器（Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, AUV）对水下多目标进行协同探测是目前海洋技术领域的研究热点。本文主要研究在水下三维区间内的多AUV任务分配与协作探测机制,建立了以每个AUV能量耗费与能耗均衡为约束条件的水下三维空间中的多旅行商（Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem, MTSP）问题模型,利用遗传算法（Genetic Algorithm, GA）对该NP-Complete问题进行启发式求解,同时设计了考虑巡航总路径及访问目标数的适应度函数以提高多AUV间的能耗均衡性,实现多个AUV对多个水下目标的优化协同探测。最后本文利用Matlab R2014a软件对多AUV任务协作与多目标探测机制进行了仿真,仿真结果验证了该方法能够均衡多AUV多目标探测问题的能量消耗,进而提高巡航速度和生命周期。     

Toward persistent autonomous intervention in a subsea panel

Intervention autonomous underwater vehicles (I-AUVs) have the potential to open new avenues for the maintenance and monitoring of offshore subsea facilities in a cost-effective way. However, this requires challenging intervention operations to be carried out persistently, thus minimizing human supervision and ensuring a reliable vehicle behaviour under unexpected perturbances and failures. This paper describes a system to perform autonomous intervention—in particular valve-turning—using the concept of persistent autonomy. To achieve this goal, we build a framework that integrates different disciplines, involving mechatronics, localization, control, machine learning and planning techniques, bearing in mind robustness in the implementation of all of them. We present experiments in a water tank, conducted with Girona 500 I-AUV in the context of a multiple intervention mission. Results show how the vehicle sets several valve panel configurations throughout the experiment while handling different errors, either spontaneous or induced. Finally, we report the insights gained from our experience and we discuss the main aspects that must be matured and refined in order to promote the future development of intervention autonomous vehicles that can operate, persistently, in subsea facilities.     

Decentralized planning and control for UAV–UGV cooperative teams

In this paper we study a symbiotic aerial vehicle-ground vehicle robotic team where unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used for aerial manipulation tasks, while unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) aid and assist them. UGV can provide a UAV with a safe landing area and transport it across large distances, while UAV can provide an additional degree of freedom for the UGV, enabling it to negotiate obstacles. We propose an overall system control framework that includes high-accuracy motion planning for each individual robot and ad-hoc decentralized mission planning for complex missions. Experimental results obtained in a mockup arena for parcel transportation scenario show that the system is able to plan and execute missions in various environments and that the obtained plans result in lower energy consumption.     

A swarm system design based on a modified particle swarm algorithm for a self-organizing scheme

In this paper, an attempt has been made to incorporate some special features in the conventional particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique for decentralized swarm agents. The modified particle swarm algorithm (MPSA) for the self-organization of decentralized swarm agents is proposed and studied. In the MPSA, the update rule of the best agent in a swarm is based on a proportional control concept and the fitness of each agent is evaluated on-line. The virtual zone is developed to avoid conflict among the agents. In this scheme, each agent self-organizes to flock to the best agent in a swarm and migrate to a moving target while avoiding obstacles and collision among agents. Aided by these advantages such as cooperative group behaviors, flexible formation and scalability, the proposed approach enables large-scale swarm agents to distribute themselves optimally for a given task. The simulation results have shown that the proposed scheme effectively constructs a self-organized swarm system with the capability of flocking and migration.     

UUV群探测系统仿真设计

研究水下航行器(UUV)群协同探测问题,系统用多传感器协同探测,执行警戒、侦察、监视水下航行等作战任务,要求实时快速和准确探测。针对目前水下情况复杂,UUV导航精度低、水声通信误码率大等状态。为解决算法研制与实际结合不紧密的问题,提高UUV群协同探测系统性能,采用GUI函数接口,设计并实现了UUV群协同探测仿真系统。系统可通过可视化界面,用MATLAB平台对UUV群用于多目标的协同探测算法进行仿真。仿真结果表明,仿真系统能够满足UUV协同仿真测试要求,对于UUV群协同探测系统的研制具有重要的应用价值。     

Towards an autonomous underwater vehicles test range: At-sea experimentation of bearing-only tracking algorithms

Underwater navigation performance of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) strongly affects the quality of the collected data. Scientific literature extensively addresses the AUV tracking and self-localisation problems. However, no standard evaluation methods for vehicle navigation exist. Therefore, the authors’ visionary perspective is to develop and implement an Underwater Test Range (UTR) to certify the vehicle compliance with long-term underwater navigation. This paper describes a first step along this research path represented by an in field validation of such conceived measurement network. Experiments are soundly based on extensive simulation analysis presented in previous works. In particular, an underwater network composed of acoustic modems with Ultra Short BaseLine capabilities is deployed as measurement rig. This setup, through bearing-only measurements, allows the tracking of an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) equipped with Differential GPS as position ground truth. Results show how the proposed methodology performs in a real marine scenario with challenging conditions due to shallow waters and magnetically noisy environment.     

An Integral Framework of Task Assignment and Path Planning for Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Dynamic Environments

In this paper, a hierarchical framework for task assignment and path planning of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a dynamic environment is presented. For multi-agent scenarios in dynamic environments, a candidate algorithm should be able to replan for a new path to perform the updated tasks without any collision with obstacles or other agents during the mission. In this paper, we propose an intersection-based algorithm for path generation and a negotiation-based algorithm for task assignment since these algorithms are able to generate admissible paths at a smaller computing cost. The path planning algorithm is also augmented with a potential field-based trajectory replanner, which solves for a detouring trajectory around other agents or pop-up obstacles. For validation, test scenarios for multiple UAVs to perform cooperative missions in dynamic environments are considered. The proposed algorithms are implemented on a fixed-wing UAVs testbed in outdoor environment and showed satisfactory performance to accomplish the mission in the presence of static and pop-up obstacles and other agents.     

Design and performance evaluation of a biomimetic microrobot for the father–son underwater intervention robotic system

Underwater intervention is a favorite and difficult task for AUVs. To realize the underwater manipulation for the small size spherical underwater robot SUR-II, a father–son underwater intervention robotic system (FUIRS) is proposed in our group. The FUIRS employs a novel biomimetic microrobot to realize an underwater manipulation task. This paper describes the biomimetic microrobot which is inspired by an octopus. The son robot can realize basic underwater motion, i.e. grasping motion, object detection and swimming motion. To enhance the payload, a novel buoyancy force adjustment method was proposed which can provides 11.8 mN additional buoyancy force to overcome the weight of the object in water. Finally, three underwater manipulation experiments are carried out to verify the performance of the son robot. One is carried by swimming motion and buoyancy adjustment; the other two are only carried by buoyancy adjustment. And the experimental results show that the son robot can realize the underwater manipulation of different shape and size objects successfully. The swimming motion can reduce the time cost of underwater manipulation remarkably.     

Preliminary field experience with the DVLNAV integrated navigation system for oceanographic submersibles

This paper reports the development and field testing of DVLNAV, an interactive program for precision three-dimensional navigation of underwater vehicles. The goal of this system is to provide vehicle position and velocity navigation data with both the precision and update rate necessary to enable closed-loop vehicle control. We report the results of preliminary field trials of DVLNAV with the Jason II underwater robot. The performance of bottom lock Doppler navigation is evaluated with respect to long baseline acoustic navigation.     

Decentralized Dynamic Coverage Control for Mobile Sensor Networks in a Non‐convex Environment

In this paper, we consider the problem of decentralized dynamic coverage control for mobile sensor networks in an environment with unknown obstacles. The goal is to cover each point in the mission domain but outside the obstacles to a desired level. Each agent is modeled as a point mass based on Newton's law. A decentralized control strategy is developed to accomplish the dynamic coverage task without collision with obstacles. Discrete update of the cooperative coverage is also considered to enhance the cooperation of the agents in the fleet. The collision avoidance and global convergence of the proposed control scheme are proved and illustrated via a simulation example.     

Adaptive configuration control of multiple UAVs

Several missions including surveillance, exploration, search-and-track, and lifting of heavy loads are best accomplished by multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Another important advantage to utilizing multiple vehicles is a reduction in the risk to successful completion of a mission due to the loss of a single vehicle. This increased robustness can lead to a commensurate decrease in vehicle specifications and cost, further improving the argument for swarm operations. This paper describes the development of an adaptive configuration controller for multiple vehicles executing a cooperative task in the presence of parametric uncertainty. A novel adaptive outer-loop controller that uses both local and global information is presented.     

A New Navigation Function Based Decentralized Control of Multi-Vehicle Systems in Unknown Environments

This paper deals with navigation for a group of vehicles while avoiding collisions and ensuring global network connectivity in unknown environments using a new decentralized navigation function. It is pointed out that the traditional navigation function is not effective in the situation where vehicles work in a large environment. It is shown that in this situation velocity of the vehicle would be extremely small, which is not realistic in practical applications. This paper proposes a new decentralized navigation function with a novel goal function based on which a decentralized control law that is along the negative gradient of the decentralized navigation function is derived. Finally the proposed decentralized control law is applied in a multi-vehicle navigation scenario. Based on the properties of the proposed navigation function and dual Lyapunov theorem, a sufficient condition is derived for vehicles to converge to regions surrounding their corresponding goal positions in a collision-free and connectivity-keeping manner. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.     

Disturbance observer-based robust control for underwater robotic systems with passive joints

Underwater exploration requires mobility and manipulation. Underwater robotic vehicles (URV) have been employed for mobility, and robot manipulators attached to the underwater vehicle (i.e. rover) perform the manipulation. Usually, the manipulation mode takes place when the rover is stationary. The URV is then modeled as a passive joint and joints of the manipulator are modeled as active joints. URV motions are determined by inherent dynamic couplings between active and passive joints. Furthermore, the control problem becomes complex since there are many hydrodynamic terms as well as intrinsic model uncertainties to be considered. Tocope with these difficulties, we propose a disturbance observer-based robust control algorithm for underwater manipulators with passive joints. The proposed control algorithm is able to treat an underactuated system as a pseudo-active system in which passive joints are eliminated. Also, to realize a robust control method, a non-linear feedback disturbance observer is applied to each active joint. A four-jointed underwater robotic system with one passive joint is considered as an illustrative example. Through simulation, it is shown that the proposed control algorithm has good position tracking performance even in the presence of several external disturbances and model uncertainties.     

Experiences and results from designing and developing a 6 DoF underwater parallel robot

REMO I Robot is a novel application of a parallel structure as an underwater robot of 6 DoF. Compared to other underwater robots, navigation of REMO I Robot is performed by the capability of its parallel structure to modify its geometric structure (thruster and front ring) and to displace by itself. This kinematic property of the parallel platform allows vectorial formation of thrusting forces to take place. Remo I Robot has just one single thruster in its rear ring, therefore the vectorial navigation gives maneuverability, flexibility, and holonomic capabilities for its navigation and positioning. The latter is important for intervention and manipulation tasks. That is why it gives a solid alternative when compared to traditional submarine robots such as shown in the simulation results and experiments performed using a real prototype. In conclusion, this paper proposes a conceptual frame for the development of underwater parallel robots. Moreover, it also points out the experience acquired from the development of the underwater Remo I Robot.