Intervention-class autonomous underwater vehicles (I-AUVs) are highly-manoeuvrable low-endurance vehicles which are ideal for operation in and around complicated underwater structures. With modular docking technology, I-AUVs are capable of recharging, offloading data, and easily changing payloads, providing the opportunity for long service autonomous monitoring, inspection and maintenance of underwater structures.
This presentation covered the work done to produce an automated planner for a fleet of modular I-AUVs which can effectively allocate tasks to individual vehicles based on their individual capabilities and limitations, according to the urgency and dependencies of the tasks as part of the user-specified mission objectives. The planner was presented as a solver for an energy-aware variant of the Team Orienteering Problem with realistic, collision-free path planning using artificial potential-flow theory. The planner has been applied to a simulated offshore wind-farm inspection mission, with four I-AUVs working together to complete the mission objectives.
The vote of thanks was proposed, and the certificate and “thank you” bottle of wine presented, by Len Michaels.
