Aquanaut

 

Aquanaut

Aquanaut is an unmanned underwater vehicle that can transform itself from a nimble submarine designed for long-distance cruising into a half-humanoid robot capable of carrying out complex manipulation tasks. It can inspect subsea oil and gas infrastructure, operate valves, and use tools.

Houston Mechatronics was started by former NASA roboticists who worked on advanced technologies used in complex space missions. Founders Matt Ondler, Reg Berka, and Nic Radford want to bring their robotics expertise to industries that include energy, offshore oil and gas, defense, and seabed mining. They have raised more than US $23 million in venture capital since starting HMI in 2014. The company, based in Houston, Texas, is developing an all-electric underwater transforming vehicle called Aquanaut. It combines the capabilities of both an underwater autonomous vehicle, or AUV, and a remotely operated underwater vehicle, or ROV. When in AUV mode, it can travel long distances of up to 200 km (108 nautical miles) in one mission while mapping its surroundings and performing structure inspections. In ROV mode, the robot can turn valves, use subsea tools, and perform other manipulation tasks.

Aquanaut is a revolutionary multi-mode transforming all-electric undersea vehicle. The vehicle is capable of efficient long-distance transit and data collection in ‘AUV’ (autonomous underwater vehicle) mode.

After transforming into ‘ROV’ (remotely operated vehicle) mode the head of the vehicle pitches up, the hull separates, and two arms are activated so that Aquanaut may manipulate its environment.

Aquanaut is now undergoing an extensive validation and maturation process and will be exposed to increasingly dynamic conditions before being deployed in Q4 2019/Q1 2020.

Shared control vs. autonomy:

HMI principals feel a high level of control is the most efficient way to deploy Aquanaut in the energy sector, where they can make sure the technology is operated safely and effectively. This is especially true in the risk-averse offshore oil and gas industry, where the idea of full robotic autonomy will need to marinade further. HMI uses the term “shared control” to refer to the semi-autonomous, remote operation of Aquanaut.

“In the oil and gas market, the robot only makes decisions on how to do something efficiently,” Halpin said. “If we say go touch this, it will arrange its joints appropriately. We give it that freedom, and we set a boundary for that action.”

Aquanaut is capable of far more autonomy, but Halpin said this market is not ready for that. “They want check-ins with a human operator a lot more frequently than you would see in the defense market, where they really like a high degree of autonomy.”

So why the massive arms on Aquanaut? HMI anticipated the types of manipulation tasks it would need to do in these environments, such as handling tools and turning valves, but it will be a while until the industry is ready to relinquish that kind of control.