CAREER: Cooperating Underwater Robots: Theory and Practice

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

Cooperating underwater robots must coordinate their actions despite severe communication bandwidth limits that exist underwater. This proposed research addresses the coordination of underwater robots through the development of theoretically justified decentralized control laws that enable a platoon of autonomous underwater vehicles to cooperatively achieve a common goal while requiring minimal communication. Fully realistic field trials are a crucial adjunct to our analytic activities. In a collaborative effort with biologists and marine scientists, platoons of small, inexpensive, autonomous underwater vehicles will be deployed in a large coastal estuary to rapidly and adaptively map bio-active chemicals. Education and outreach will be integrated with the proposed research through both the development of a new course on the dynamics and control of underwater robots, and the creation of a new autonomous underwater vehicle contest for middle school and high school students in collaboration with colleagues at MIT and the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. The intellectual merits of the proposed research include the development of an improved toolbox of distributed control laws and an improved understanding of communication requirements for platoons of autonomous vehicles in unstructured, real-world environments. The broader impacts of this research effort include: the development of affordable technology that will enable ocean and marine scientists to conduct scientific investigations that are not otherwise possible; the development of curriculum, course materials, and laboratory projects for underwater robotics; and the creation of an autonomous underwater vehicle contest that is accessible to middle school and high school students.