Autonomous Marine Vehicle Operations—2nd Edition
A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Ocean Engineering".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2024 | Viewed by 6566
Special Issue Editors
Interests: decision-making and advanced control; unmanned technology and swarm intelligence in maritime applications; autonomous surface vehicles; autonomous underwater vehicles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: intelligent robot hardware and software architecture; task planning; path planning; multi-robot technology; autonomous decision-making technology in complex environments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: autonomous marine vehicles (underwater and surface); guidance and control; coordination
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The world has witnessed a rapid development of unmanned system, which has paved the way for innovative approaches to previously unsolvable problems in marine and ocean engineering. Advanced and intelligent operation methods of marine vehicles are being applied to a variety of significant engineering applications, contributing to successful interdisciplinary cooperation. This edition of the Special Issue on marine vehicle operation, ‘Autonomous Marine Vehicle Operations—2nd Edition’, invites submissions of latest experimental and simulation studies related to perception, decision-making and control of marine vehicles. The Guest Editors of this Special Issue, together with the Editors of the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, will provide a high-quality reviewing process and ensure efficient publication of your original research and review articles on the following topics:
- Water surface object detection and recognition;
- Underwater vision and identification;
- Marine vehicle navigation, guidance and control;
- Path planning, path following and trajectory tracking;
- Collision avoidance and obstacle avoidance;
- Coordination and game for marine vehicles;
- Fault diagnosis design and fault tolerant control;
- Marine vehicle modelling and simulation technologies;
- Propulsion systems and energy efficiency;
- Maritime safety and risk assessment.
Prof. Dr. Xiao Liang
Prof. Dr. Rubo Zhang
Dr. Xingru Qu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- autonomous operations
- surface and underwater applications
- perception
- decision making
- control
- coordination and game
- safety and efficiency
Related Special Issue
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Ray-based physical modelling and simulation of Multibeam Echosounder perception for Underwater Robotics
Authors: Woen-Sug Choi,
Affiliation: Korea Maritime and Ocean University)
Abstract: Navigating the dynamic underwater environment, marked by elements like turbidity and variable lighting, poses significant challenges for robotics. These complexities necessitate advanced sonar-based perception systems for environmental assessment, critical in various applications ranging from robotics control systems to broader underwater tasks. Traditional multibeam echosounder simulations, while pivotal, often lack a comprehensive physics-based interaction model. This leads to discrepancies in sonar imagery, such as the absence of coherent imaging systems and speckle effects. Previous research addresses this gap by introducing a physics-based simulation approach, offering a more accurate representation of sonar perceptions. This paper introduces an ray-based method replacing raster-based method of the previous research for data collection within a simulated Gazebo environment. This method maintains the integrity of sonar image generation, encompassing coherent speckle and accurate point spread functions, and offers enhanced computational efficiency and adaptability. Our comparative analysis confirms that the ray-based approach, while matching the output quality of the raster-based method, provides greater flexibility for a variety of underwater scenarios. This advancement represents a significant stride in refining sonar-based simulations, contributing to the development of more robust perception models for diverse applications in autonomous underwater systems.
Title: Low-cost Communication-based Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Positioning System
Authors: Raphaël Garin , Pierre-Jean Bouvet, Beatrice Tomasi (Norce), Philippe Forjonel (ISEN Yncréa Ouest) and Charles Vanwynsberghe (TII).
Affiliation: (ISEN Yncréa Ouest)
Abstract: Underwater unmanned vehicles are complementary with human presence and manned vehicles for deeper and complex environments. An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle ( AUV) has automation and long range capacity compared to a cable guided Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV ).
Navigation of AUV s is challenging due to the high absorption of radio-frequency signals underwater and the absence of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). As a result, most navigation algorithms rely on acoustic signals and precise localization is then costly in addition to being independent from pure acoustic data communication. The purpose of this paper is to study a low-cost communication-based simultaneous communication and localization algorithm by considering a scenario where an AUV is exchanging data with a single fixed beacon and performing Doppler-shift and range estimation through this communication. Using three robust state estimators, we analyze the algorithm with common parameters and a survey path used for AUV mission planning.
Title: AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER PIPE DAMAGE DETECTION POSITIONING AND PIPE TRACKING EXPERIMENT WITH UNMANNED UNDERWATER VEHICLE
Authors: Seda Karadeniz Kartal
Affiliation: Electrical Engineering Department, Bulent Ecevit University, Turkey
Abstract: Underwater natural gas pipelines form critical infrastructure for energy transportation. Any damage or leakage in these lines poses serious safety risks, directly threatens marine and lake ecosystems, and can lead to operational issues and economic losses in the energy supply chain. Since it is very difficult for divers to detect and regularly inspect the deterioration of these underwater pipelines over time, the use of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) in this field is important. In this study, an underwater pipeline tracking experiment was performed by adding autonomous features to a remotely operated unmanned underwater vehicle (ROV). While tracking the underwater pipeline, the damage to the pipeline was identified and its location was determined. The navigation information of the underwater vehicle was obtained from an inertial measurement unit (IMU), magnetic compass, and pressure sensor integrated into the vehicle. The orientation information of the vehicle in the x, y, z axes (roll, pitch, yaw) was obtained from the gyroscope integrated with the magnetic compass, the speed and position information in three axes from the accelerometer, and the distance to the water surface from the pressure sensor. In this study, the necessary pulse width modulation (PWM) values to be applied to the vehicle's thrusters for autonomous tracking of a known-length pipeline to be used underwater were determined through preliminary tests. These values were sent to the right, left, and vertical thruster motors using the MAVlink protocol to give the vehicle autonomous features. In the pool experiment, while the unmanned underwater vehicle autonomously followed the pipeline, damages on the pipeline were identified using images obtained from the vehicle camera. The images were processed with the convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm, a deep learning method, to identify the damage. The location of the damage relative to the vehicle was estimated from the pixel dimensions of the identified damage. The position of the vehicle at the time of damage identification was known from the vehicle's navigation system. By combining these two-location data, the position of the damage relative to the starting point was obtained. The entire study was conducted in the Python environment.