In the Mare-IT project, a consortium led by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFHI) has developed an autonomous two-arm underwater vehicle (AUV) for complex inspection and maintenance tasks. The AUV allows intuitive control and monitoring, At the same time, it can also achieve effective information exchange with the operator.
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To ensure the safety of offshore infrastructure such as wind turbines or oil and gas production equipment, regular inspection and maintenance are essential. However, underwater operations are not only complex and costly, but divers also face considerable risks. Remote unmanned vehicles (ROVs) are already being used to monitor the condition of offshore equipment.
The latest solution of DFHI is to use autonomous AUV, which can stay in the water for a long time. The autonomous system realizes autonomous operation in water, and can also be remotely controlled when necessary.
In the Mare-I project, a number of companies and research institutions from the fields of IT, robotics, drive technology and marine engineering have designed and built the autonomous underwater robot "Cuttlefish".
As an interventional underwater robot, the "Squid" can be positioned freely in the water and has two deep-sea grasping systems attached to its mid-belly to help manipulate objects underwater. With the help of a special design and an artificial intelligence control system, the Cuttlefish can also change its center of gravity and buoyancy during a dive, making it stable or holding in any direction.
The two-arm autonomous underwater robot "Cuttlefish" was launched at the DFKI Ocean Discovery Museum in Bremen
In addition to fully autonomous operation, this underwater robot can also operate in a hybrid mode by using fiber-optic cables. In the hybrid mode, the supervisor can intervene and control the robot remotely at the key nodes of the underwater robot's work. To this end, in addition to manipulators, the system is also equipped with many sensors for environmental perception, such as sonar sensors, cameras, laser scanners, and magnetometers.
To efficiently process large amounts of sensor data, the researchers developed a special architectural concept that enables decentralized analysis of data streams directly to the robot. The Bremen-based researchers are also responsible for the planning of inspection and repair tasks. In addition, they have developed a standard interface that enables bidirectional data exchange between autonomous underwater vehicles, control stations and internal business infrastructure.
The virtual autonomous driving function, developed by DFKI's Cognitive Assistance Systems Research Unit, supports the personnel at the control station when performing remote control tasks. Therefore, the system is equipped with Microsoft's HoloLens, which can be used in combination with a control station or as a separate lightweight interaction medium, such as interacting with ships.
The operator can know the status of the AUV and underwater structure through the display of the console at any time. Displays can display sensor information and measured data, while providing warnings through natural voice interaction. Autonomous underwater robots and cameras can also be controlled by voice commands.
In the Mare-IT project, the DFKI Embedded Intelligence Research Department also developed an APP as a supplement to the interactive technology. The APP can control the autonomous underwater robot or change the parameter settings through mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. In addition, the researchers investigated the possibility of using artificially oscillating magnetic fields to locate underwater robots.
The AUV uses high-strength thrusters produced by WITTENSTEIN cyber motor GmbH. The thruster has a thrust of 500 Newtons and is suitable for seawater environments up to 6000 meters deep. The propulsion system uses special canning technology to prevent chemical hazards to the environment. The servo-inverter paired with the thruster includes a sensorless controller specially matched to the thruster motor, providing accurate, highly dynamic speed control in both steering ranges and the entire rev-to-stop range. This AUV is equipped with 8 propulsion drives.
The Mare-IT project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with around 5.5 million euros.
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