Session: 05-04-01 CCUS and Underwater Development/ Utilization I

Submission Number: 176673

Return Task for Small Vehicle to Seafloor-Based Lander 

The exploration system we are developing, consisting of a lander and a small vehicle, will enable deep-depth sampling missions by assigning roles tailored to each vehicle's unique characteristics.

The lander is responsible for transporting the small vehicle from the surface to the seafloor. It is launched from a mother ship with the small vehicle on board and launches the small vehicle after reaching the seafloor.

The launched small vehicle explores the seafloor, detects and collects targets, and returns to the lander.

After the lander and small vehicle dock, they will surface to bring back samples.

The return of the small vehicle to the lander is a critical task in this mission, and it must return regardless of whether the collection attempt is successful or unsuccessful.

To achieve this, the challenges include accurate guidance control to the lander, detection of docking points using a camera, and maintaining orientation during docking.

This paper describes methods for solving these challenges.

For guidance control, we propose a path planning algorithm that approaches the lander while searching for docking points.

To detect docking points, we build a detection model that can respond to changes in the lighting environment during camera capture.

In addition, when detecting a docking point, a control system is adopted that detects the marker direction as well as the position to control the position and orientation of the small vehicle.

We report the results of verifying these proposed methods.

Presenting Author: Hitoshi Kakami Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

Presenting Author Biography: Hitoshi Kakami
Engineer
Marine Robotics Engineering Group
Engineering Department
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

Research Interest
Unmanned Vehicles(AUVs, ASVs, ROVs)
Image processing

Recent Work
Development of deep-depth AUV
Automatic detection using image processing
Implementation of AUV software configured with ROS2

Authors:

Hitoshi Kakami Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Yosaku Maeda Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Masato Ishii Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Kazuya Iwashita Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Tomoya Inoue Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology