Heterogeneous robotic system for underwater oil spill survey

Abstract

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The tragic Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 as well as the increase in deepwater offshore activity have increased public interest in counter-measures available for sub-surface releases of hydrocarbons. To arrive at proper contingency planning, response managers urge for a system for instant detection and characterization of accidental releases. Along these lines, this paper describes the application of a heterogeneous robotic system of unmanned vehicles: autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) extended with the oil spill numerical modeling, visualisation and decision support capabilities. A first set of field experiments simulating oil spill scenarios with Rhodamine WT was held in Croatia during the early autumn 2014. The objectives of this experiment were to test: effectiveness of the system for underwater detection of hydrocarbons, including multi-vehicle collaborative navigation and communication as well as visualisation of the system components.