112 vehicle’s toolKITT onboard software, and manipulator accuracy is independent of the available comms bandwidth. The operator does not directly drive the manipulators; instead they specify goals for the platform to achieve, and the Aquanaut figures out the best way to achieve them. That is the essence of supervised autonomy. Newell adds that while the robot can perform intervention tasks without human assistance, that is not Nauticus’ policy. “For quality and safety reasons we maintain the person in the loop, and the robot cannot take the next step in a sequence until the operator has authorised it, so a human is always checking what the robot is doing,” he says. Supervised intervention One of the most common underwater intervention tasks is opening and closing a valve in a pipeline. “First, the robot has to get within reach of the valve,” Newell says. “It knows in advance what kind of valve it is and which way it needs to turn it. “Sometimes it will use a gripper to open the valve, other times it will use an onboard torque tool to turn it. The robot follows the same sequence as an ROV pilot. The robot would see the valve, position itself and then position the manipulator or gripper ready to turn it. “Then the operator checks and says, ‘OK, I agree with you, you have positioned your manipulator correctly, and now I authorise you to take the very first inward motion.’ Then the next instruction might be, ‘OK, now you’re positioned correctly, close your gripper.’ Then you could say, ‘Take the first turn to the right by 15o.’ So you take the job one step at a time between the robot and the person. It’s like a dance.” Management software The control software for the Aquanaut and Nauticus’ other robotic platforms comes with a planning and oversight module called the Commander, a comms module known as Wavelink, a primary control module called the Helmsman, a modelling unit called Wayfinder and a data gathering and management module called Loggerhead. The Commander enables the planning of autonomous missions and control of vehicles from the shore using webbased software, Nauticus says. It is designed for the direct command of operations as well as oversight of simple high-level commands and mission objectives. Platform telemetry, setpoints, commands and mission plans are sent to and from the Commander through Wavelink, which is Nauticus’ proprietary acoustic comms network. Bridging the air-water barrier between topside operators and subsea units, Wavelink uses a delay-tolerant network that selects the best channel from several comms modes that are available simultaneously. The Commander’s Autonomy UI user interface provides an insight into the health and status of ongoing missions, and enables operator intervention if it is needed. At the same time, the Commander Companion interface uses platform telemetry and behaviour trees to carry out autonomy-related calculations, delivering the resulting command setpoints to the Helmsman, which handles all the primary control calculations for deployed robotic platforms. Wayfinder supports mission planning and execution by modelling the subsea environment around the robot, interpreting sensor inputs and providing processed data to the Helmsman and October/November 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology The Aquanaut in the foreground is in ‘intervention’ configuration with a pair of electrically powered Olympic robotic manipulator arms, while the one behind is in ‘excursion’ configuration for survey work The Aquanaut secured in its dedicated and automated launch & recovery system aboard the Hydronaut. The basket suspended from the yellow cursor travels fore and aft on the surface vessel’s stern deck
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