Long-Term Autonomy for Ground and Aquatic Robotics
Abstract
The overall effort will develop new capabilities for long-term autonomy and supervisory control of ground and aquatic robots operating under uncertainty. The objectives are to significantly advance the state of the art in intelligent ground robots (bi-pedal and quadrupedal walking robots) and underwater robots (both autonomous underwater vehicles, AUVs, and remotely operated vehicles, ROVs) operating in highly complex environments performing surveillance, inspection, and maintenance tasks that rely on effective robot perception and manipulation capabilities both with and without a human present in the operating area.To achieve our objectives, we will develop algorithms for learning manipulation of underwater objects that can adapt to new situations and conditions from experience, self-adaptation, and interactions. Communication between the vehicle and human supervisors is particularly challenging due the low bandwidths available with underwater communication. Additionally, we will develop new methods of aggregating important information tosupport supervisory control of multiple AUVs by one human. Interaction methods between divers and underwater robots will be developed to facilitate tool handovers. Finally, our work will focus on the development of an integrated software stack, as well as performance metrics and evaluations methods.Our team at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) will collaborate with Brown University, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport on this research.Approved for Public Release
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 09, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142412634
Entities
People
- Holly Ann Yanco
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Massachusetts