To Boldly Dive Where No One Has Gone Before: Experiments in Coordinated Robotic Ocean Exploration

Abstract

AbstractStudy of ocean processes is important to understanding climatic variability especially on the productive upper water-column. Ocean currents regulate the climate, it captures CO\(_2\) from the atmosphere and oxygen is generated by its plankton communities, all of which are part of the global environmental cycle which are being impacted by anthropogenic change. Much of the ocean, however, remains unexplored especially the bio-geochemical processes in the water-column which need to be examined at scale. Satellite remote sensing captures only surface effects while expensive research vessels can only make discrete observations in finite periods of time. Our work with networked marine robotics in the aerial, surface and underwater domains is at the vanguard of a new approach to scientific observation, which brings together technology to enable vessels and robots to work in tandem for capturing synoptic views of open ocean phenomena. We describe a cruise in the Spring of 2018 in the open waters of the Pacific where we employed a fleet of autonomous robots for simultaneous observations of mesoscale and sub-mesoscale features of an unexplored frontal zone. We articulate our approach to multi-vehicle coordination and challenges that lie ahead for research in this harsh domain.KeywordsOcean explorationNetworked maritime roboticsMulti-vehicle operations