Robotics Commons^™

Investigation Of Automated 3d Scanning Strategies For Large-Scale Polishing Applications, Casey Egan

Open Access Master's Theses

In automated scanning for industrial refinishing applications, large workpieces often exceed the reach of a single robot base position, and may require the environment to be scanned from multiple locations and stitched to a common reference frame. This thesis compares two robotic scanning workflows for such an object: a full scan that reconstructs the object from a single robot base position, and a segmented scan occurring across multiple simulated robot base positions that are stitched together through fiducial-based localization. The results from both workflows are compared for measurement accuracy of the object's bounding box against known dimensions, position of the …

Tracking Control Of A String Actuated Soft Trunk Robot Using State-Space Modeling, Jacob Trivisonno

Open Access Master's Theses

Soft robots, primarily composed of compliant materials, exhibit highly complex and nonlinear dynamics, making precise control a significant challenge. Traditional control methods often struggle with these complexities, requiring more advanced and data-driven methods. In our previous work, “Automatic Control of a Soft Trunk Robot Actuated by Strings” [1], a proportional controller was developed to drive the steady-state tracking error to zero. While this method was effective, it required time-consuming manual tuning and was not easily adaptable to physical modifications of the robot.

To address these limitations, this research implements gain-scheduled feedback control with state-space models calculated through a multiple linear …

Optical-Link-Aware Online Waypoint Planner For Asv-Auv Systems, Ansel R. Austin

Open Access Master's Theses

The growing demand for ocean mapping and survey missions has increased interest in reliable AUV-ASV platforms. In such systems, reliable communication between the AUV and ASV is critical for monitoring the AUV's status and offloading large data products such as multi-beam sonar point clouds. While the range of acoustic telemetry can span several kilometers, its bandwidth is inadequate for transmitting high-volume data streams (such as images and point clouds). Underwater optical communication modems, in contrast, provide a relatively high bandwidth but are hindered by rapid attenuation in turbid water and a narrow field of view. This thesis introduces an online, …

Exploring The Benefits, Barriers, And Sustainability Of Community Stem Partnerships: A Qualitative Case Study On Stem Collaboration In Elementary Education, Katherine M. Blagden

Open Access Dissertations

In an era of increasing emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, elementary schools often face significant challenges in implementing high-quality, integrated STEM instruction. These challenges include limited resources, inconsistent professional development, and a lack of access to real-world, community-based learning experiences (Dorph et al., 2018; National Science Board, 2024). This dissertation explores how collaborative partnerships among elementary schools, community organizations, and industry professionals can overcome these barriers and foster meaningful, sustainable STEM learning opportunities for young students. Drawing on the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) model (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993) and informed by a constructivist theoretical framework (Vygotsky, …

The Coral Carousel: A Device And Method For In-Situ Propagation Of Deep-Sea Corals, Gregory Bales

Open Access Master's Theses

The research described herein covers the development of a tool station for performing in-situ propagation of corals using a work class ROV. This includes a system for manipulating coral fragments and affixing them to a cement base plug. To validate this tool station, testing was performed both in the lab as well as at depth in the Gulf of Mexico. As restoration of shallow-water corals has grown in popularity, many techniques have been developed for propagation. However, it is difficult or inappropriate to directly apply these techniques to deep-sea corals. While some forms of diving are capable of approaching the …

Toward Precise Long-Range Underwater Acoustic Geo-Positioning: Utilizing Vehicle Data And Deepening The Gnss Analogy Through Uncertainty Modeling, Isaac B. Salazar

Open Access Master's Theses

Electromagnetic signals, such as those used by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), attenuate dramatically underwater, but acoustic signals can travel hundreds of kilometers, and can be used for positioning in much the same way. Concepts from GNSS can be applied to the subsurface context, as at a basic level, the principles of geo-positioning are identical. Key challenges in translating satellite positioning models to the underwater acoustic domain include differences in signal type as well as instrumentation and propagation environment. Acoustic signals travel at much slower speeds and are subject to significant environmental variability due to complex ocean dynamics. Here, the …

Observability-Aware Path Planning For Autonomous Navigation, Raymond Brink Neistat

Open Access Master's Theses

Terrain-Aided Navigation (TAN) is a popular method of localization for GPS-denied vehicles, particularly in the marine domain. There are many ways to perform TAN in a marine setting, such as Bathymetric SLAM (BSLAM) and Bayesian Filtering with the aid of an a priori map. These techniques have been studied extensively, but show an overall lack of rigorous observability analyses. Without nonlinear observability analyses, TAN practitioners do not have an analytical indicator to know which areas of terrain will provide opportunities for the best localization performance. This thesis reviews current developments in the endeavors of nonlinear observability analyses as well as …

Fasten: An Iot Platform For Supply Chain Management In A Covid-19 Pandemic Scenario, Fernando Lemos, Thays Do Nascimento, Gustavo Dalmarco

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper points out the major disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It proposes an automated Internet-of-Things (IoT) based manufacturing and supply chain system, termed FASTEN, that can deal with such severe disruptions.

Rethink Everything 2: Markets, Globalization, Development, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Diffuse Sea Floor Venting Using Structured Light Imaging, Gabrielle Inglis, Clara Smart, Christopher Roman, Steven Carey

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Efficiently identifying and localizing diffuse sea floor venting at hydrothermal and cold seep sites is often difficult. Actively venting fluids are usually identified by a temperature induced optical shimmering seen during direct visual inspections or in video data collected by vehicles working close to the sea floor. Relying on such direct methods complicates establishing spatial relations between areas within a survey covering a broad area. Our recent work with a structured light laser system has shown that venting can also be detected in the image data in an automated fashion. A structured light laser system consists of a camera and …

Remote Analysis Of Grain Size Characteristic In Submarine Pyroclastic Deposits From Kolumbo Volcano, Greece, Clara Smart, D. P. Whitesell, Christopher N. Roman, Steven Carey

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Grain size characteristics of pyroclastic deposits provide valuable information about source eruption energetics and depositional processes. Maximum size and sorting are often used to discriminate between fallout and sediment gravity flow processes during explosive eruptions. In the submarine environment the collection of such data in thick pyroclastic sequences is extremely challenging and potentially time consuming. A method has been developed to extract grain size information from stereo images collected by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). In the summer of 2010 the ROV Hercules collected a suite of stereo images from a thick pumice sequence in the caldera walls of Kolumbo …

Concept Tests For A New Wire Flying Vehicle Designed To Achieve High Horizontal Resolution Profiling In Deep Water, Chris Roman, Dave Hebert

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Efficiently profiling the water column to achieve both high vertical and horizontal resolution from a moving vessel in deep water is difficult. Current solutions, such as CTD tow-yos, moving vessel profilers, and undulating tow bodies, are limited by ship speed or water depth. As a consequence, it is difficult to obtain oceanographic sections with sufficient resolution to identify many relevant scales over the deeper sections of the water column. This paper presents a new concept for a profiling vehicle that slides up and down a towed wire in a controlled manner using the lift created by wing foils. The wings …

Development Of High Resolution Sea Floor Mapping Tools And Techniques, Gabrielle Inglis, J. Ian Vaughn, Clara Smart, Christopher N. Roman

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

There is a persistent need for high resolution photographic and bathymetric maps of the sea floor for many research areas in marine geology, biology and archaeology. This poster will present recent work using high frequency multibeam sonars, stereo vision and structured light laser imaging techniques to create maps with centimeter resolution for these applications. This research involves the development of new image and sonar processing techniques that combat the typical difficulties of imperfect navigation information, limited sensor ranges and adverse environmental conditions associated with using marine robotic vehicles in the ocean. Data for this work has been collected with the …

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles As Tools For Deep-Submergence Archaeology, Christopher N. Roman, Ian Roderick Mather

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Marine archaeology beyond the capabilities of scuba divers is a technologically enabled field. The tool suite includes ship-based systems such as towed side-scan sonars and remotely operated vehicles, and more recently free-swimming autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Each of these platforms has various imaging and mapping capabilities appropriate for specific scales and tasks. Broadly speaking, AUVs are becoming effective tools for locating, identifying, and surveying archaeological sites. This paper discusses the role of AUVs in this suite of tools, outlines some specific design criteria necessary to maximize their utility in the field, and presents directions for future developments. Results are presented …

Application Of Structured Light Imaging For High Resolution Mapping Of Underwater Archaeological Sites, Chris Roman, Gabrielle Inglis, James Rutter

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

This paper presents results from recent work using structured light laser profile imaging to create high resolution bathymetric maps of underwater archaeological sites. Documenting the texture and structure of submerged sites is a difficult task and many applicable acoustic and photographic mapping techniques have recently emerged. This effort was completed to evaluate laser profile imaging in comparison to stereo imaging and high frequency multibeam mapping. A ROV mounted camera and inclined 532 nm sheet laser were used to create profiles of the bottom that were then merged into maps using platform navigation data. These initial results show very promising resolution …

Development Of A New Lagrangian Float For Studying Coastal Marine Ecosystems, Alex Schwithal, Chris Roman

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

This paper presents an overview and initial testing results for a shallow water Lagrangian float designed to operate in coastal settings. The presented effort addresses the two main characteristics of the shallow coastal environment that preclude the direct of use of many successfully deep water floats, namely the higher variation of water densities near the coast compared with the open ocean and the highly varied bathymetry. Our idea is to develop a high capacity dynamic auto-ballasting system that is able to compensate for the expected seawater density variation over a broad range of water temperatures and salinities while using measurements …

The 2005 Chios Ancient Shipwreck Survey: New Methods For Underwater Archaeology, Brendan P. Foley, Katerina Dellaporta, Dimitris Sakellariou, Brian S. Bingham, Richard Camilli, Ryan M. Eustice, Dionysis Evagelistis, Vicki Lynn Ferrini, Kostas Katsaros, Dimitris Kourkoumelis, Aggelos Mallios, Paraskevi Micha, David A. Mindell, Christopher Roman, Hanumant Singh, David S. Switzer, Theotokis Theodoulou

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

In 2005 a Greek and American interdisciplinary team investigated two ship wrecks off the coast of Chios dating to the 4th-century B.C. and the 2nd/lst century. The project pioneered archaeological methods of precision acoustic, digital image, and chemical survey using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and in-situ sensors, increasing the speed of data acquisition while decreasing costs. The AUV recorded data revealing the physical dimensions, age, cargo, and preservation of the wrecks. The earlier wreck contained more than 350 amphoras, predominantly of Chian type, while the Hellenistic wreck contained about 40 Dressel 1C amphoras. Molecular biological analysis of two amphoras …

Deep Sea Underwater Robotic Exploration In The Ice-Covered Arctic Ocean With Auvs, Clayton Kunz, Chris Murphy, Richard Camilli, Hanumant Singh, John Bailey, Ryan M. Eustice, Chris Roman, Michael Jakuba, Claire Willis, Taichi Sato, Ko-Ichi Nakamura, Robert A. Sohn

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The Arctic seafloor remains one of the last unexplored areas on Earth. Exploration of this unique environment using standard remotely operated oceanographic tools has been obstructed by the dense Arctic ice cover. In the summer of 2007 the Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition (AGAVE) was conducted with the express intention of understanding aspects of the marine biology, chemistry and geology associated with hydrothermal venting on the section of the mid-ocean ridge known as the Gakkel Ridge. Unlike previous research expeditions to the Arctic the focus was on high resolution imaging and sampling of the deep seafloor. To accomplish our goals we …

Byzantium Beneath The Black Sea, Bridget Buxton, Robert Ballard, Michael Brennan, Dwight Coleman, Katy Croff, Christopher Roman, Dan Davis, Dennis Piechota, Sergiy Voronov

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

This poster reports on the August 2007 Black Sea Expedition of the Institute for Archaeological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (IAO) and the Institute for Exploration (IFE), in collaboration with the Department of the Underwater Heritage of Ukraine. This year’s work marks a new phase in a multi-year (2000–2012) archaeological and oceanographic survey of the Black Sea. 2007 fieldwork focuses on two Byzantine shipwrecks. The 10th century C.E. shipwreck Chersonesos A (discovered in 2006) lies at 140 m depth in the suboxic zone off the Crimean peninsula. The ship carried a cargo of one-handled jars of a widely …

Robust Course-Boundary Extraction Algorithms For Autonomous Vehicles, Chris Roman, Charles Reinholtz

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Practical autonomous robotic vehicles require dependable methods for accurately identifying course or roadway boundaries. The authors have developed a method to reliably extract the boundary line using simple dynamic thresholding, noise filtering, and blob removal. This article describes their efforts to apply this procedure in developing an autonomous vehicle.