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1 – 10 of 374Ling Chen, Sen Wang, Klaus McDonald‐Maier and Huosheng Hu
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate two key elements of localization and mapping of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), i.e. to overview various sensors and…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate two key elements of localization and mapping of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), i.e. to overview various sensors and algorithms used for underwater localization and mapping, and to make suggestions for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first review various sensors and algorithms used for AUVs in the terms of basic working principle, characters, their advantages and disadvantages. The statistical analysis is carried out by studying 35 AUV platforms according to the application circumstances of sensors and algorithms.
Findings
As real‐world applications have different requirements and specifications, it is necessary to select the most appropriate one by balancing various factors such as accuracy, cost, size, etc. Although highly accurate localization and mapping in an underwater environment is very difficult, more and more accurate and robust navigation solutions will be achieved with the development of both sensors and algorithms.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides an overview of the state of art underwater localisation and mapping algorithms and systems. No experiments are conducted for verification.
Practical implications
The paper will give readers a clear guideline to find suitable underwater localisation and mapping algorithms and systems for their practical applications in hand.
Social implications
There is a wide range of audiences who will benefit from reading this comprehensive survey of autonomous localisation and mapping of UAVs.
Originality/value
The paper will provide useful information and suggestions to research students, engineers and scientists who work in the field of autonomous underwater vehicles.
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Keywords
Xianjun Liu, Xixiang Liu, Hang Shen, Peijuan Li and Tongwei Zhang
Motivated by the problems that the positioning error of strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS) accumulates over time and few sensors are available for midwater navigation…
Abstract
Purpose
Motivated by the problems that the positioning error of strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS) accumulates over time and few sensors are available for midwater navigation, this paper aims to propose a self-aided SINS scheme for the spiral-diving human-occupied vehicle (HOV) based on the characteristics of maneuvering pattern and SINS error propagation.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the navigation equations of SINS are simultaneously executed twice with the same inertial measurement unit (IMU) data as input to obtain two sets of SINS. Then, to deal with the horizontal velocity provided by one SINS, a delay-correction high-pass filter without phase shift and amplitude attenuation is designed. Finally, the horizontal velocity after processing is used to integrate with other SINS.
Findings
Simulation results indicate that the horizontal positioning error of the proposed scheme is less than 0.1 m when an HOV executes spiral diving to 7,000 meters under the sea and it is inherently able to estimate significant sensors biases.
Originality/value
The proposed scheme can provide a precise navigation solution without error growth for spiral-diving HOV on the condition that only IMU is required as a navigation sensor.
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Keywords
Xiaoshuang Ma, Xixiang Liu, Chen-Long Li and Shuangliang Che
This paper aims to present a multi-source information fusion algorithm based on factor graph for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) navigation and positioning to address the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a multi-source information fusion algorithm based on factor graph for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) navigation and positioning to address the asynchronous and heterogeneous problem of multiple sensors.
Design/methodology/approach
The factor graph is formulated by joint probability distribution function (pdf) random variables. All available measurements are processed into an optimal navigation solution by the message passing algorithm in the factor graph model. To further aid high-rate navigation solutions, the equivalent inertial measurement unit (IMU) factor is introduced to replace several consecutive IMU measurements in the factor graph model.
Findings
The proposed factor graph was demonstrated both in a simulated and vehicle environment using IMU, Doppler Velocity Log, terrain-aided navigation, magnetic compass pilot and depth meter sensors. Simulation results showed that the proposed factor graph processes all available measurements into the considerably improved navigation performance, computational efficiency and complexity compared with the un-simplified factor graph and the federal Kalman filtering methods. Semi-physical experiment results also verified the robustness and effectiveness.
Originality/value
The proposed factor graph scheme supported a plug and play capability to easily fuse asynchronous heterogeneous measurements information in AUV navigation systems.
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Keywords
Mingjie Dong, Jianfeng Li and Wusheng Chou
The purpose of this study is to develop a new positioning method for remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the nuclear power plant. The ROV of the nuclear power plant is developed to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop a new positioning method for remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the nuclear power plant. The ROV of the nuclear power plant is developed to inspect the reactor cavity pools, the component pools and spent-fuel storage pools. To enhance the operational safety, the ability of localizing the ROV is indispensable.
Design/methodology/approach
Therefore, the positioning method is proposed based on the MEMS inertial measurement unit and mechanical scanning sonar in this paper. Firstly, the ROV model and on board sensors are introduced in detail. Then the sensor-based Kalman filter is deduced for attitude estimation. After that, the positioning method is proposed that divided into static positioning and dynamic positioning. The improved iterative closest point-Kalman filter is deduced to estimate the global position by the whole circle scanning sonar data in static, and the relative positioning method is proposed by the small scale scanning sonar data in dynamic.
Findings
The performance of the proposed method is verified by comparing with the visual positioning system. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by the experiment in the reactor simulation pool of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant.
Originality/value
The research content of this manuscript is aimed at the specific application needs of nuclear power plants and has high theoretical significance and application value.
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Keywords
Mohammadreza Bayat and A. Pedro Aguiar
The authors aim to investigate the observability properties of the process of simultaneous localization and mapping of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), a challenging and…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors aim to investigate the observability properties of the process of simultaneous localization and mapping of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), a challenging and important problem in marine robotics, and illustrate the derived results through computer simulations and experimental results with a real AUV.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors address the single/multiple beacon observability analysis of the process of simultaneous localization and mapping of an AUV by deriving the nonlinear mathematical model that describes the process; then applying a suitable coordinate transformation, and subsequently a time-scaling transformation to obtain a linear time varying (LTV) system. The AUV considered is equipped with a set of inertial sensors, a depth sensor, and an acoustic ranging device that provides relative range measurements to a set of stationary beacons. The location of the beacons does not need to be necessarily known and in that case, the authors are also interested to localize them. Numerical tests and experimental results illustrate the derived theoretical results.
Findings
The authors show that if either the position of one of the beacons or the initial position of the AUV is known, then the system is at least locally weakly observable, in the sense that the set of indistinguishable states from a given initial configuration contains a finite set of isolated points. The simulations and experiments results illustrate the findings.
Originality/value
In the single and multiple beacon case and for manoeuvres with constant linear and angular velocities both expressed in the body-frame, known as trimming or steady-state trajectories, the authors derive conditions under which it is possible to infer the state of the resulting system (and in particular the position of the AUV). The authors also describe the implementation of an advanced continuous time constrained minimum energy observer combined with multiple model techniques. Numerical tests and experimental results illustrate the derived theoretical results.
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Keywords
Umair Ali, Wasif Muhammad, Muhammad Jehanzed Irshad and Sajjad Manzoor
Self-localization of an underwater robot using global positioning sensor and other radio positioning systems is not possible, as an alternative onboard sensor-based self-location…
Abstract
Purpose
Self-localization of an underwater robot using global positioning sensor and other radio positioning systems is not possible, as an alternative onboard sensor-based self-location estimation provides another possible solution. However, the dynamic and unstructured nature of the sea environment and highly noise effected sensory information makes the underwater robot self-localization a challenging research topic. The state-of-art multi-sensor fusion algorithms are deficient in dealing of multi-sensor data, e.g. Kalman filter cannot deal with non-Gaussian noise, while parametric filter such as Monte Carlo localization has high computational cost. An optimal fusion policy with low computational cost is an important research question for underwater robot localization.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors proposed a novel predictive coding-biased competition/divisive input modulation (PC/BC-DIM) neural network-based multi-sensor fusion approach, which has the capability to fuse and approximate noisy sensory information in an optimal way.
Findings
Results of low mean localization error (i.e. 1.2704 m) and computation cost (i.e. 2.2 ms) show that the proposed method performs better than existing previous techniques in such dynamic and unstructured environments.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work provides a novel multisensory fusion approach to overcome the existing problems of non-Gaussian noise removal, higher self-localization estimation accuracy and reduced computational cost.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to provide details of underwater robot technology and its applications.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of underwater robot technology and its applications.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an introduction, this article first discusses remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technology and applications and then considers their use in the emerging field of deep-sea mining. It then discusses autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology and its applications, including sub-sea gliders. Finally, brief concluding comments are drawn.
Findings
ROVs were first developed in the 1950s for military applications. They are now widely used by the offshore oil and gas sector and other industries and are being developed for deep-sea mining. AUV technology has progressed rapidly in recent years and AUVs, including sub-sea gliders, are now emerging from their original role in oceanographic research and finding growing uses in the defence and offshore energy sectors.
Originality/value
This provides a detailed insight into underwater robot technologies, products and applications.
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Keywords
Ravinder Singh and Kuldeep Singh Nagla
The purpose of this research is to provide the necessarily and resourceful information regarding range sensors to select the best fit sensor for robust autonomous navigation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to provide the necessarily and resourceful information regarding range sensors to select the best fit sensor for robust autonomous navigation. Autonomous navigation is an emerging segment in the field of mobile robot in which the mobile robot navigates in the environment with high level of autonomy by lacking human interactions. Sensor-based perception is a prevailing aspect in the autonomous navigation of mobile robot along with localization and path planning. Various range sensors are used to get the efficient perception of the environment, but selecting the best-fit sensor to solve the navigation problem is still a vital assignment.
Design/methodology/approach
Autonomous navigation relies on the sensory information of various sensors, and each sensor relies on various operational parameters/characteristic for the reliable functioning. A simple strategy shown in this proposed study to select the best-fit sensor based on various parameters such as environment, 2 D/3D navigation, accuracy, speed, environmental conditions, etc. for the reliable autonomous navigation of a mobile robot.
Findings
This paper provides a comparative analysis for the diverse range sensors used in mobile robotics with respect to various aspects such as accuracy, computational load, 2D/3D navigation, environmental conditions, etc. to opt the best-fit sensors for achieving robust navigation of autonomous mobile robot.
Originality/value
This paper provides a straightforward platform for the researchers to select the best range sensor for the diverse robotics application.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to provide details of recent developments in robots aimed at applications in the offshore oil and gas industries.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of recent developments in robots aimed at applications in the offshore oil and gas industries.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a short introduction, this first discusses developments to remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). It then describes the Total-sponsored Autonomous Robot for Gas and Oil Sites (ARGOS) robot challenge. This is followed by a discussion of the Offshore Robotics for Certification of Assets (ORCA) programme. Finally, brief concluding comments are drawn.
Findings
Subsea residency and other techniques are being developed that will enhance the availability and capabilities of AUVs and ROVs and reduce their operating costs. Mobile robots that can operate in harsh topside rig environments to monitor and detect hazards arose from ARGOS and are being developed further prior to commercialisation. Bringing together academics and users, the collaborative ORCA programme is making significant progress in the development of aerial, topside and underwater robotic and sensing technologies for rig asset inspection and maintenance.
Originality/value
This paper identifies and describes key development activities that will stimulate the use of robots by the offshore industries.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to provide an insight into robot developments that use bioinspired design concepts.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an insight into robot developments that use bioinspired design concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a short introduction to biomimetics, this paper first provides examples of bioinspired terrestrial, aerial and underwater robot navigation techniques. It then discusses bioinspired locomotion and considers a selection of robotic products and developments inspired by snakes, bats, diving birds, fish and dragonflies. Finally, brief concluding comments are drawn.
Findings
The application of design concepts that mimic the capabilities and processes found in living creatures can impart robots with unique abilities. Bioinspired techniques used by insects and other organisms, notably optic flow and sunlight polarisation sensing, allow robots to navigate without the need for methods such as simultaneous localisation and mapping, GPS or inertial measurement units. Bioinspired locomotion techniques have yielded robots capable of operating in water, air and on land and in some cases, making the transition between different media.
Originality/value
This shows how bioinspired design concepts can impart robots with innovative and enhanced navigation and locomotion capabilities.
Details