A method to obtain a multidomain (environment) awareness on a floating target (nonresponsive ship, iceberg, other floating structure) using a heterogeneous collaborative team of above, surface and underwater robots. This allows, for example, a ship approaching a nonresponsive floating target to get information from a safe standoff prior to getting closer to further investigate or to attempt a boarding. The above-water unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), integrated with optical cameras, obtains measurements of the above-water geometry using visual imagery to create an above water three-dimensional model using photogrammetry methods.  The below-water unmanned underwater vehicle is integrated with an imaging and profiling bathymetric sonars to capture the submerged hull geometry and features. An unmanned surface vehicle (USV) hosts an intelligent node which centrally controls the robotic collaboration by autonomously planning and distributing the mission for both the UUV and UAV. The results from the two are fused to yield a more complete picture of the floating target.

We present results from simulations and a controlled in-water trial with an UUV, USV and UAV. The contributions from this work includes the robotic collaboration and autonomy across multiple domains, autonomous mission-planning and the fusing of multi-domain data. The scheduling of inter-dependent multirobot task allocation is addressed in the autonomous mission planning. The approach is validated in simulations and tested in-water. The in-water trials highlight the challenges and value of integrating sensors on distributed multi-domain robots towards a more complete picture on a floating target.

Biography:

Dr. Mae Seto  has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics (Electrical Engineering option) and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (University of British Columbia). She was a Defence Scientist at Defence R&D Canada for 15 years where she was Chief/Principal Scientist on scientific trials all over the world including one to the Canadian Arctic. Her areas of expertise include robotic autonomy, control, collaboration, localization and navigation as well as underwater acoustics.

Dr, Seto is currently an Associate Professor at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Engineering and cross-appointed to the Faculty of Computer Science.  She is Director of the Intelligent Systems Laboratory and the Irving Shipbuilding Research Chair in Marine Engineering and Autonomous Systems. Dr. Seto is also a contractor with the  Dept. of National Defence on various topics in autonomous robotics and serves on  NATO Science &; Technology research groups.  

With the IEEE CAS, she is the Chapter Chair for the Oceanic Engineering Society and and Vice-Chair for the Robotics and Automation Society.