Autonomous landing of underwater vehicles using high-resolution bathymetry
Autonomous landing of underwater vehicles using high-resolution bathymetry
The ability to land on the seafloor expands the envelope of tasks that underwater vehicles can carry out during survey and inspection. However, even though remotely operated vehicles routinely land during their operations, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) lack the sensing and data processing capabilities needed to identify safe, stable landing sites. Here, an algorithm is developed that uses mm resolution bathymetry to detect regions where an AUV of known geometry can safely and stably land on the seafloor. The algorithm uses physical models that consider vehicle geometry, seafloor slope, roughness, friction and currents. It can identify the most suitable of multiple candidate sites based on a landing cost function. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using seafloor bathymetry data that was obtained using an AUV equipped with a high resolution laser mapping system on the slopes of the Takuyo Daigo seamount in the Northwest Pacific. The algorithm successfully identified multiple landing sites along a 500 m transect on the slopes of the surveyed seamount. The study demonstrates that safe, reliable AUV landing operation is feasible in actual seafloor environments.
Sangekar, Mehul
196e042f-c144-4310-aab1-1b8e963ac417
Thornton, Blair
8293beb5-c083-47e3-b5f0-d9c3cee14be9
Bodenmann, Adrian
070a668f-cc2f-402a-844e-cdf207b24f50
Ura, Tamaki
689db479-1520-4f32-bb7a-ed34b26b921f
2019
Sangekar, Mehul
196e042f-c144-4310-aab1-1b8e963ac417
Thornton, Blair
8293beb5-c083-47e3-b5f0-d9c3cee14be9
Bodenmann, Adrian
070a668f-cc2f-402a-844e-cdf207b24f50
Ura, Tamaki
689db479-1520-4f32-bb7a-ed34b26b921f
Sangekar, Mehul, Thornton, Blair, Bodenmann, Adrian and Ura, Tamaki
(2019)
Autonomous landing of underwater vehicles using high-resolution bathymetry.
IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.
Abstract
The ability to land on the seafloor expands the envelope of tasks that underwater vehicles can carry out during survey and inspection. However, even though remotely operated vehicles routinely land during their operations, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) lack the sensing and data processing capabilities needed to identify safe, stable landing sites. Here, an algorithm is developed that uses mm resolution bathymetry to detect regions where an AUV of known geometry can safely and stably land on the seafloor. The algorithm uses physical models that consider vehicle geometry, seafloor slope, roughness, friction and currents. It can identify the most suitable of multiple candidate sites based on a landing cost function. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using seafloor bathymetry data that was obtained using an AUV equipped with a high resolution laser mapping system on the slopes of the Takuyo Daigo seamount in the Northwest Pacific. The algorithm successfully identified multiple landing sites along a 500 m transect on the slopes of the surveyed seamount. The study demonstrates that safe, reliable AUV landing operation is feasible in actual seafloor environments.
Text
2018_JOE
- Accepted Manuscript
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Published date: 2019
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 435641
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/435641
ISSN: 0364-9059
PURE UUID: e32b0526-1b4f-4f38-96c9-2f754229b565
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Date deposited: 15 Nov 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:48
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Author:
Mehul Sangekar
Author:
Tamaki Ura
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