1998 International ground robotics vehicle competition robotics competition corner

Abstract

While commercially available autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are routinely used in survey missions, a new set of applications exist demanding intervention capabilities. This is the case, for instance, of the maintenance of permanent underwater observatories or submerged oil wells. These tasks, currently undertaken by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), can be automated using intervention AUVs (I-AUVs) reducing their complexity and costs. The TRITON spanish funded project proposes the use of light I-AUV for autonomous intervention tasks, such as valve turning or connector pluging/unpluging, in adapted sub-sea infrastructures. To this aim, this paper presents the design and implementation of an I-AUV-friendly sub-sea docking panel, as well as the vision-based autonomous docking procedure for the Girona 500 lightweight I-AUV. The panel implements a funnel-based docking method for passive accommodation. It also includes a T valve and a custom designed hot stab connector. Once docked, the I-AUV and the panel become rigid and basic fixed-base manipulation strategies can be used for manipulation.