Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake Robots
The use of unmanned underwater vehicles is steadily increasing for a variety of applications such as mapping, monitoring, inspection and intervention within several research fields and industries, e.g., oceanography, marine biology, military, and oil and gas. Particularly interesting types of unmann...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frobt.2019.00057/full |
| _version_ | 1811234850001125376 |
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| author | Eleni Kelasidi Eleni Kelasidi Signe Moe Signe Moe Kristin. Y. Pettersen Anna M. Kohl Pål Liljebäck Jan Tommy Gravdahl Jan Tommy Gravdahl |
| author_facet | Eleni Kelasidi Eleni Kelasidi Signe Moe Signe Moe Kristin. Y. Pettersen Anna M. Kohl Pål Liljebäck Jan Tommy Gravdahl Jan Tommy Gravdahl |
| author_sort | Eleni Kelasidi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The use of unmanned underwater vehicles is steadily increasing for a variety of applications such as mapping, monitoring, inspection and intervention within several research fields and industries, e.g., oceanography, marine biology, military, and oil and gas. Particularly interesting types of unmanned underwater vehicles are bio-inspired robots such as underwater snake robots (USRs). Due to their flexible and slender body, these versatile robots are highly maneuverable and have better access capabilities than more conventional remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Moreover, the long and slender body allows for energy-efficient transit over long distances similar to torpedo-shaped autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In addition, USRs are capable of performing light intervention tasks, thereby providing intervention capabilities which exceed those of AUVs and inspection class ROVs. USRs may also propel themselves using energy-efficient motion patterns inspired by their biological counterparts. They can thereby increase the propulsion efficiency during transit and maneuvering, which is among the great challenges for autonomous underwater vehicles. In this paper, a control system for path following, and algorithms for obstacle detection and avoidance, are presented for a USR with thrusters attached at the tail module. The position of the obstacles is detected using a single camera in the head module of the USR and a developed computer vision algorithm. For the proposed control concept the robot joints are used for directional control while the thrusters are used for forward propulsion. The USR circumvents obstacles by following a circular path around them before converging back to the main straight line path when this is safe. Experimental results that validate the proposed methods are also presented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:43:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d92bc1694db54bf5b8267b565107832e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-9144 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:43:21Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| spelling | doaj.art-d92bc1694db54bf5b8267b565107832e2022-12-22T03:34:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Robotics and AI2296-91442019-07-01610.3389/frobt.2019.00057442686Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake RobotsEleni Kelasidi0Eleni Kelasidi1Signe Moe2Signe Moe3Kristin. Y. Pettersen4Anna M. Kohl5Pål Liljebäck6Jan Tommy Gravdahl7Jan Tommy Gravdahl8Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Seafood Technology, SINTEF Ocean, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Mathematics and Cybernetics, SINTEF Digital, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Engineering Cybernetics, Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Engineering Cybernetics, Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Engineering Cybernetics, Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Engineering Cybernetics, Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayThe use of unmanned underwater vehicles is steadily increasing for a variety of applications such as mapping, monitoring, inspection and intervention within several research fields and industries, e.g., oceanography, marine biology, military, and oil and gas. Particularly interesting types of unmanned underwater vehicles are bio-inspired robots such as underwater snake robots (USRs). Due to their flexible and slender body, these versatile robots are highly maneuverable and have better access capabilities than more conventional remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Moreover, the long and slender body allows for energy-efficient transit over long distances similar to torpedo-shaped autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In addition, USRs are capable of performing light intervention tasks, thereby providing intervention capabilities which exceed those of AUVs and inspection class ROVs. USRs may also propel themselves using energy-efficient motion patterns inspired by their biological counterparts. They can thereby increase the propulsion efficiency during transit and maneuvering, which is among the great challenges for autonomous underwater vehicles. In this paper, a control system for path following, and algorithms for obstacle detection and avoidance, are presented for a USR with thrusters attached at the tail module. The position of the obstacles is detected using a single camera in the head module of the USR and a developed computer vision algorithm. For the proposed control concept the robot joints are used for directional control while the thrusters are used for forward propulsion. The USR circumvents obstacles by following a circular path around them before converging back to the main straight line path when this is safe. Experimental results that validate the proposed methods are also presented.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frobt.2019.00057/fullunderwater snake robotsenergy efficiencythrusted USRpath followingobstacle detection and avoidance |
| spellingShingle | Eleni Kelasidi Eleni Kelasidi Signe Moe Signe Moe Kristin. Y. Pettersen Anna M. Kohl Pål Liljebäck Jan Tommy Gravdahl Jan Tommy Gravdahl Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake Robots Frontiers in Robotics and AI underwater snake robots energy efficiency thrusted USR path following obstacle detection and avoidance |
| title | Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake Robots |
| title_full | Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake Robots |
| title_fullStr | Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake Robots |
| title_full_unstemmed | Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake Robots |
| title_short | Path Following, Obstacle Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for Thrusted Underwater Snake Robots |
| title_sort | path following obstacle detection and obstacle avoidance for thrusted underwater snake robots |
| topic | underwater snake robots energy efficiency thrusted USR path following obstacle detection and avoidance |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frobt.2019.00057/full |
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