Authors:
Robert Damus
1
;
Samuel Desset
1
;
James Morash
1
;
Victor Polidoro
1
;
Franz Hover
1
;
Chrys Chryssostomidis
1
;
Jerome Vaganay
2
and
Scott Willcox
2
Affiliations:
1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
;
2
Bluefin Robotics Corporation, United States
Keyword(s):
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, hovering, feature-relative navigation, inspection.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics
;
Robotics and Automation
;
Space and Underwater Robotics
Abstract:
The MIT Sea Grant AUV Lab, in association with Bluefin Robotics Corporation, has undertaken the task of
designing a new autonomous underwater vehicle, a holonomic hover-capable robot capable of performing
missions where an inspection capability similar to that of a remotely operated vehicle is the primary goal.
One of the primary issues in this mode of operating AUVs is how the robot perceives its environment and
thus navigates. The predominant methods for navigating in close proximity to large iron structures, which
precludes accurate compass measurements, require the AUV to receive position information updates from an outside source, typically an acoustic LBL or USBL system. The new paradigm we present in this paper divorces the navigation routine from any absolute reference frame; motions are referenced directly to the hull. We argue that this technique offers some substantial benefits over the conventional approaches, and will present the current status of our project.