title: I-AUV Docking and Panel Intervention at Sea.
abstract: The use of commercially available autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) has increased during the last fifteen years. While they are mainly used for routine survey missions, there is a set of applications that nowadays can be only addressed by manned submersibles or work-class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) equipped with teleoperated arms: the intervention applications. To allow these heavy vehicles controlled by human operators to perform intervention tasks, underwater structures like observatory facilities, subsea panels or oil-well Christmas trees have been adapted, making them more robust and easier to operate. The TRITON Spanish founded project proposes the use of a light-weight intervention AUV (I-AUV) to carry out intervention applications simplifying the adaptation of these underwater structures and drastically reducing the operational cost. To prove this concept, the Girona 500 I-AUV is used to autonomously dock into an adapted subsea panel and once docked perform an intervention composed of turning a valve and plugging in/unplugging a connector. The techniques used for the autonomous docking and manipulation as well as the design of an adapted subsea panel with a funnel-based docking system are presented in this article together with the results achieved in a water tank and at sea.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Investigació en Robótica Submarina (CIRS), Computer Vision and Robotics Institute, Universitat de Girona, Girona 17071, Spain. npalomer@eia.udg.edu.
authors.forename: Narcís
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Palomeras
authors.affiliation: Interactive and Robotic Systems Laboratory (IRSLab), Universitat Jaume I, Castelló 12071, Spain. penalvea@uji.es.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peñalver
authors.affiliation: Systems Robotics and Vision Group, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca 07122, Spain. miquel.massot@uib.cat.
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Massot-Campos
authors.affiliation: Systems Robotics and Vision Group, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca 07122, Spain. pl.negre@uib.cat.
authors.forename: Pep Lluís
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Negre
authors.affiliation: Interactive and Robotic Systems Laboratory (IRSLab), Universitat Jaume I, Castelló 12071, Spain. fernandj@uji.es.
authors.forename: José Javier
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Investigació en Robótica Submarina (CIRS), Computer Vision and Robotics Institute, Universitat de Girona, Girona 17071, Spain. pere@eia.udg.edu.
authors.forename: Pere
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ridao
authors.affiliation: Interactive and Robotic Systems Laboratory (IRSLab), Universitat Jaume I, Castelló 12071, Spain. sanzp@uji.es.
authors.forename: Pedro J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.affiliation: Systems Robotics and Vision Group, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca 07122, Spain. goliver@uib.cat.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oliver-Codina
keywords: autonomous underwater vehicles; field robotics; manipulation; underwater intervention