Unlocking the Power of Combined Autonomous Operations with Underwater and Surface Vehicles: Success with a Deep-Water Survey AUV and USV Mothership

Proctor, Alison A.; Zarayskaya, Yulia; Bazhenova, E.; Sumiyoshi, Masanao; Wigley, Rochelle; Roperez, Jaya; Zwolak, Karolina; Sattiabaruth, Seeboruth; Tinmouth, Neil; Simpson, Benjamin; Kristoffersen, Stian Michael

doi:10.1109/oceanskobe.2018.8558784

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…SEA-KIT has been designed by the UK Company Hushraft Ltd., and built as the part of the GEBCO-Nippon Foundation Alumni Team solution for the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE Challenge [6][7][8]. The requirements of the competition determined the size and functionalities of the vessel.…”

Section: Sea-kit-built Trials Unmanned Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Table 5. Specifications of unmanned surface vessel (USV) SEA-KIT 'Maxlimer' [6][7][8]. The unusual shape of the hull ensures good stability, necessary for the survey work and the optimal use of space inside the vessel in the situation where the midship part is reserved for the transportation of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, launched and recovered through the stern part.…”

Section: Sea-kit-built Trials Unmanned Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Ocean-Going Autonomous Ship—Challenges and Threats

Felski

Zwolak

2020

JMSE

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126

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Unmanned vehicles have become a part of everyday life, not only in the air, but also at sea. In the case of sea, until now this usually meant small platforms operating near shores, usually for surveying or research purposes. However, experiments with larger cargo vessels, designed to operate on the high seas are already being carried out. In this context, there are questions about the threats that this solution may pose for other sea users, as well as the safety of the unmanned vehicle itself and the cargo or equipment on board. The problems can be considered in the context of system reliability as well as the resilience to interference or other intentional actions directed against these objects—for example, of a criminal nature. The paper describes the dangers that arise from the specificity of systems that can be used to solve navigational problems, as well as the analysis of the first experiences of the authors arising from the transit of an unmanned surface vessel (USV) from the United Kingdom to Belgium and back, crossing the busiest world shipping route—the English Channel.

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Section: Sea-kit-built Trials Unmanned Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sea-kit-built Trials Unmanned Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ocean-Going Autonomous Ship—Challenges and Threats

Felski

Zwolak

2020

JMSE

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126

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“…Basic data about both vehicles used during the survey are provided in Tables 1 and 2. The detailed description of the design and functionalities of the mapping system can be found in [12][13][14]. Figure 3 presents the general concept of the survey, according to the Competition requirements.…”

Section: Data Acquisition Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Integrated with the Unmanned Surface Vessel Mapping the Southern Ionian Sea. The Winning Technology Solution of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE

et al. 2020

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The methods of data collection, processing, and assessment of the quality of the results of a survey conducted at the Southern Ionian Sea off the Messinian Peninsula, Greece are presented. Data were collected by the GEBCO-Nippon Foundation Alumni Team, competing in the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, during the Final Round of the competition. Data acquisition was conducted by the means of unmanned vehicles only. The mapping system was composed of a single deep water AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle), equipped with a high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar HISAS 1032 and multibeam echosounder EM 2040, partnered with a USV (Unmanned Surface Vessel). The USV provided positioning data as well as mapping the seafloor from the surface, using a hull-mounted multibeam echosounder EM 304. Bathymetry and imagery data were collected for 24 h and then processed for 48 h, with the extensive use of cloud technology and automatic data processing. Finally, all datasets were combined to generate a 5-m resolution bathymetric surface, as an example of the deep-water mapping capabilities of the unmanned vehicles' cooperation and their sensors' integration.The ocean floor is the most remote and difficult part of our planet, yet to be explored. Due to the extreme conditions facing exploration, the majority of the world's ocean floor is still unmapped [1,2]. Modern mapping techniques, based on the acoustic technology, allow us the possibility to collect bathymetric and water column data, but the survey process is slow and expensive. The majority of present-day surveying efforts go into the busier, shallow waters for the purpose of safety of navigation. While this represents an understandable and necessary approach, it results in the majority of the deep ocean still being unmapped. The overall shape of the global ocean floor is an estimation based on the satellite altimetry technique [3] and interpolation between sparse acoustic measurements.The American foundation XPRIZE announced in 2015 that the next award will go to those who come up with the solution for faster, detailed mapping of the ocean floor, without exposing humans to the harsh sea environment. That was the beginning of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. To compete in the final round of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, each team had to present the solution for collecting bathymetric data and imagery data and successfully complete Round 1 in 2017. During the second round a year later, the bathymetric data collection had to achieve depths of up to 4000 m, with a vertical resolution of 0.5 m and a horizontal resolution of 5 m. The imagery needed to include images presenting recognizable geological, biological, or archaeological features on the seabed. The solution had to be autonomous or remote controlled, but there must have been no human inside the survey area, and no physical link between the devices and the mission control location. The mapping system, with all its elements, had to fit into one standard 40-ft shipping container. The minimum coverage to be achieved during t...

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“…In our case, a Kongsberg HiPAP 351P-MGC USBL was used to update the AUV positioning, during the Technology Readiness Tests. The cooperation with a surface vessel is therefore an essential part of accurate surveying using the autonomous underwater vehicle [8].…”

Section: Surveying Performance and Its Impact On Ocean Mapping Possibmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fully Autonomous mode is based on waypoint following. In this mode, the vessel is fully controlled by K-MATE [8].…”

Section: Annual Of Navigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shell Ocean Discovery Xprize Competition Impact on the Development of Ocean Mapping Possibilities

Zwolak

Zarayskaya

Wigley

et al. 2018

Annual of Navigation

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The paper presents the impact that the XPRIZE Foundation competition, the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, has had on the development of current ocean mapping possibilities. A race for the prize has accelerated the development of innovative seabed mapping approaches that concentrated on new systems engineering or cutting-edge and innovative methods of existing equipment exploitation. The GEBCO - Nippon Foundation (NF) Alumni Team’s entry is presented in details as a state of the art example of mature and robust oceanmapping solution utilizing a high degree of autonomy and providing the possibilities of deepocean mapping that were unattainable before.

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Unlocking the Power of Combined Autonomous Operations with Underwater and Surface Vehicles: Success with a Deep-Water Survey AUV and USV Mothership

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

The Ocean-Going Autonomous Ship—Challenges and Threats

The Ocean-Going Autonomous Ship—Challenges and Threats

The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Integrated with the Unmanned Surface Vessel Mapping the Southern Ionian Sea. The Winning Technology Solution of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE

The Shell Ocean Discovery Xprize Competition Impact on the Development of Ocean Mapping Possibilities

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