Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!sgiblab!sdd.hp.com!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!koriel!lll-winken.llnl.gov!taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil!brutzman
From: brutzman@cs.nps.navy.mil (Don Brutzman)
Subject: UUST 93 Video Proceedings Available
Message-ID: <CLv0q6.89A@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil>
Sender: news@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil
Organization: Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 1994 01:42:06 GMT
Lines: 423

              ***** VIDEO PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE *****

                  8th International Symposium on
            Unmanned Untethered Submersible Technology
                             (UUST 93)

                       September 27-29, 1993

                  Marine Systems Engineering Lab
                    University of New Hampshire
                     Durham, New Hampshire USA


     The Marine Systems Engineering Laboratory of the University
of New Hampshire/Northeastern University hosted the 8th
International Symposium on Unmanned Untethered Submersible
Technology on September 27, 28 and 29, 1993.

     The video proceedings are now available for $35 US for
VHS (NTSC) format and $50 US for PAL format.  The video is being
made publicly available on a non-profit basis.  Printed abstracts
and points of contacts are included in a pamphlet with each
video.  The program is available eclectronically via anonymous ftp to
file://taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil/pub/auv/uust93_video_proceedings.ps.Z

Prior to August 1 1994, you may order this video by sending a
check or money order to:

     LCDR Donald P. Brutzman USN
     Code OR/Br, Naval Postgraduate School
     Monterey California 93943-5000
     (408) 656-2149 work, (408) 656-2595 fax
     Internet:  brutzman@nps.navy.mil

After AUgust 1 1994, you may order this video (or printed conference
proceedings) by sending a check or money order to:

     Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute (AUSI)
     8 Earle Drive
     Lee, New Hampshire  03824  USA
     (603) 862-4600

Name:       __________________________

Address:    __________________________     phone:  ______________________

            __________________________     fax:    ______________________

            __________________________     e-mail: ______________________

# tapes:    __________________________     format:  VHS ($35) / PAL ($50)

total:      $_________________________

[postscript copy:  anonymous ftp taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil:pub/auv/uust93.ps.Z]

                    Eighth International Symposium on

           UNMANNED UNTETHERED SUBMERSIBLE TECHNOLOGY (UUST 93)

                           Video Proceedings

                        September 27-29, 1993

                         Symposium Chairman
                            Dick Blidberg
                     Marine Systems Engineering Lab
                      University of New Hampshire
                       Durham, New Hampshire USA

                      Video Proceedings Editor
                             Don Brutzman
                      Naval Postgraduate School
                      Monterey, California USA

                                ***

   01:20 AUVs for Scientific Research 
         in Hazardous Conditions

   07:15 A Versatile Testbed:  The "Twin-Burger"

   13:55 ARPA/Navy Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV)

   31:30 Summary of MBARI/Stanford ARL Joint Underwater Robotics
         Research Program

   43:05 Development of an Aquatic Walking Robot for Underwater
         Inspection:  "AQUAROBOT"

   47:30 Naval Postgraduate School Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

   50:15 The Rational Behavior Model (RBM) Software Architecture

   57:25 Mobile Undersea Systems Test (MUST) Laboratory

1:02:10  The Advanced Unmanned Search System (AUSS)

1:11:20  credits

                  Production Assistance
                  Theme:  "Dark Waters"

                   LT John Roesli USN
                Naval Postgraduate School


                  Advice and Hardware

                Professor Michael J. Zyda
                Naval Postgraduate School



                        Inquiries

                       Don Brutzman
                        Code OR/Br
                 Naval Postgraduate School
              Monterey, California 93943-5000 USA
           (408) 656-2149 work, (408) 656-2595 fax
                   brutzman@nps.navy.mil


              Biggest Thanks:  the contributors!


                             ***

               AUVs for Scientific Research
                 in Hazardous Conditions

                   LT Michael Roer USCG
          US Coast Guard Research & Development Center
                 1082 Shennecossett Road
             Groton, Connecticut 06340-6096 USA

                    James C. Jalbert
           Marine Systems Engineering Laboratory
                  Marine Science Center
                 Northeastern University
             Nahant, Massachusetts 01908 USA
                     (603) 862-4600

         Historically, limited scientific research has been conducted
under oil spills.  This video presents preliminary experiments,
investigations, and analysis to determine the constraints and
limitations of utilizing an AUV to support scientific research under
spill-of-opportunity or in-situ burns.  The capability of an AUV to
navigate, control, and maneuver within a moving boom arrangement is
evaluated.  A parabolic boom shape was assumed.  A series of 18
autonomous missions was conducted with the UNH Marine Systems
Engineering Laboratory's EAVE III AUV.


                            ***

           A Versatile Testbed:  The "Twin-Burger"

                        Teruo Fujii
              Institute of Industrial Science
                    University of Tokyo
         7-22-1 Roppongi Minato-Ku Tokyo, 106, Japan
          telephone 011-81-3-3402-6231 ext 2281-3
               fujii@manta.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

         A versatile test-bed "The Twin-Burger" has been developed at
the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS) at the University of Tokyo
to verify and improve the techniques which realize intelligent
behaviors of autonomous underwater vehicles.  This video program shows
the vehicle system and the mission execution experiment in IIS testing
pool.  The mission is to cruise along a rectangular path while
avoiding collision to the walls and to get information from the EL
panel sets which are fixed underwater at the corner of the rectangular
path.  It is shown that the vehicle swims along the commanded path and
accomplishes the mission autonomously.

                           ***

                        ARPA/Navy
             Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV)

             Advanced Research Projects Agency
                  Undersea Warfare Office
                 Arlington, Virginia, USA

             Charles Stark Draper Laboratories
              Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

                   CAPT Alan R. Beam USN
                    UUV Program Manager
             Maritime Systems Technology Office
             Advanced Research Projects Agency
             4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 700
               Arlington, Virginia 22203 USA
            (703) 516-6000 work/(703) 516-6060 fax


         In 1988 DARPA and the Navy agreed to jointly develop UUVs in
order to demonstrate their utility in meeting designated Navy mission
requirements.  Contracts were awarded for the fabrication of two test
bed mission packages: Tactical Acoustic System (TAS) and Mine Search
System (MSS).
         The objective of the MSS program is to demonstrate that a UUV
can enhance and complement a manned host platform's ability to avoid
mines.  The MSS provides the host platform with the capability of
positioning the MSS sonars close to the ocean bottom thereby improving
the effectiveness of the sonars in detecting bottomed and
short-tethered mines.  The MSS operates in two possible modes.  In an
autonomous mode, the MSS covertly surveys an area for mines, after
which it returns to a manned platform to relate the survey data
collected.  In a semi-autonomous mode, the MSS leads a host vessel,
submarine or surface ship through an area that may contain mines, and
provides sufficient advance warning for the host to safely avoid any
mines detected.
         The ARPA UUV MSS program started in January 1990 and
completed testing in April 1993.  Lockheed was selected as the MSS
Prime Contractor following a full and open competition.  Lockheed's
responsibilities included building a UUV Mission Package, integrating
the mission package with Government-provided ahead-looking and
side-looking sonars (developed by the Applied Research Laboratory
(ARL), University of Texas at Austin) with a test-bed UUV built by
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Cambridge Massachusetts.  Lockheed
also tested the integrated system at sea.
         Numerous technological advances are resident in the MSS.  A
sophisticated computer-aided detection (CAD) sonar processing
algorithm provides autonomous discrimination between "minelike" and
"non-minelike" targets.  An improved acoustic communications link
employs spatial, temporal and frequency diversity to mitigate
traditional underwater communications problems of multi-path reception
and interfering noise, permitting non-tethered vehicle operations.  A
velocity-aided ring laser gyro inertial navigation system permits
accurate geopositioning of the MSS and the mines it detects.  A
mission computer with obstacle-avoidance and terrain-avoidance
algorithms enables the MSS to operate autonomously.  A
triply-redundant fault-tolerant processor acts as vehicle controller
providing high guidance and control reliability.
         Design, equipment, tactical capabilities and at-sea operational
test results of the UUV are explained in detail.


                          ***

             Summary of MBARI/Stanford ARL
                Joint Underwater Robotics
                   Research Program

                      Michael Lee
       Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
                  160 Central Avenue
          Pacific Grove, California 93950 USA
                    (408) 647-3700

         The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is
developing a deep-diving untethered task-level- control vehicle at
their operations laboratory in Moss Landing, California.  This video
shows many research aspects of this work in progress.  Included is
vehicle design, propulsion, control, navigation and use of stereo
video with hardware- based optic-flow processing.  This new vehicle
will permit remote observation and tracking of marine creatures in
their natural habitat.  A low-bandwidth acoustic link will be used to
pass commands to the vehicle.  Deep-diving capability, removal of
tether constraints and quiet operation are expected to enable new
scientific discoveries in the benthic depths of Monterey Canyon.


                        ***

             Development of an Aquatic
            Walking Robot for Underwater
             Inspection:  "AQUAROBOT"

        Hidetoshi Takahashi, Shigeki Shiraiwa,
         Katsuei Nakagawa and Mineo Iwasaki
        Robotics Laboratory, Machine Division
         Port and Harbor Research Institute
               Ministry of Transport
         3-1-1, Nagase, Yokosuka, Japan 239
              fax 011-81-468-44-0575

         AQUAROBOT was developed for underwater inspection in port
construction tasks.  AQUAROBOT has six legs with three joints each.
It is driven by DC servo motors controlled by a personal computer.
AQUAROBOT is equipped with an ultrasonic transponder with an error of
within 10cm at 300m.  It is also equipped with an underwater TV
system.  Combination of TV with a ranging device enables evaluation of
the size of objects appearing in the TV image.  AQUAROBOT can walk
toward a target, adjusting its direction and inclination without any
human supervision. Additionally AQUAROBOT can automatically make a
depth map of the sea floor where it touches with its feet.

          [Although tethered, this robot is of interest to UUST
because walking machines are rare and AQUAROBOT includes several
important elements of autonomy... editor]


                             ***

                 Naval Postgraduate School
               Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

      Charles Floyd, Don Brutzman and Russell Whalen
                        Code OR/Br
                 Naval Postgraduate School
            Monterey, California 93943-5000 USA
          (408) 656-2149 work, (408) 656-2595 fax
                  brutzman@nps.navy.mil

         The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Autonomous Underwater
Vehicle (AUV) is an eight foot long, 387-pound untethered robot
submarine designed for research in adaptive control, mission planning,
navigation, mission execution, and post-mission data analysis.
Neutral buoyancy, eight plane surfaces and twin propellers allow
precise maneuverability.
         Simulation programs running on Iris three-dimensional
graphics workstations are used to evaluate NPS AUV software and
predict system performance prior to each mission. Graphics simulations
can replay in real time actual data collected in the pool.
         The taped playback demonstrates reconstruction and
visualization of vehicle track, control systems dynamic response,
logic and state changes, plotted locations of individual sonar
returns, and expert system classification of detected objects. Ongoing
NPS AUV research is investigating linear and nonlinear control
techniques, advanced sonar classification, failure mode analysis using
neural networks, dynamic path and search planning, use of cross-body
thrusters for hovering control, alternate AUV operating architectures,
incorporation of Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver navigation,
and construction of an underwater virtual world to permit complete and
realistic testing of every aspect of AUV operation in the laboratory.


                             ***

    The Rational Behavior Model (RBM) Software Architecture

                Se-Hung Kwak, Ronald Byrnes,
               Robert McGhee, Anthony Healey,
              Thomas Scholz and Fritz Thornton
                 Naval Postgraduate School
                Monterey, California, USA
          (408) 656-2168 work, (408) 656-2814 fax
                  kwak@cs.nps.navy.mil

         The RBM is a multi-paradigm, tri-level software architecture
for the control of autonomous vehicles. The attribute "tri-level" is
based on the three levels of abstraction, namely the Strategic (top),
the Tactical (middle), and Execution (bottom) level.  "Multi-paradigm"
describes the utilization of different computer languages in order to
exploit their strengths and avoid their weaknesses wherever
appropriate.
         RBM has been implemented for the Naval Postgraduate
School Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (NPS AUV) and has been
successfully run in simulation using one workstation for each level,
each being connected via Ethernet. The video shows RBM applied to the
NPS AUV and gives a brief demonstration of a successful test run of
the NPS AUV simulated on a Silicon Graphics workstation by the NPS AUV
simulator.  Another test run shows the behavior of the NPS AUV after a
simulated battery failure.
         Dividing vehicle capabilities into Strategic, Tactical and
Execution layers mimics the command structure on naval vessels and
provides a natural, effective way to solve all vehicle control
problems at the appropriate level of abstraction and response time.


                           ***

             Mobile Undersea Systems Test
                   (MUST) Laboratory

         Mobile Undersea Systems Test Laboratory
         Perry Technologies and Martin Marietta
         Point of contact:  Michael J. Mulleavey
                 100 East 17th Street
           Riviera Beach, Florida, 33404 USA
                   (407) 842-5261

         Martin Marietta's Mobile Undersea Systems Test (MUST)
Laboratory is the world's largest unmanned underwater vehicle test
facility.  The MUST Lab and support vessel are capable of large wet
and dry payloads, rapid turnaround time and multiple dives at sea
without returning to port.  Rough weather does not affect the test
vehicle's operating capacity nor its recovery.  This is due to the
innovative and unique launch and recovery system that allows safe
operation even in sea state four.
         The five section baseline vehicle length is 30 feet with
alternate configurations available from three to seven sections
resulting in total lengths of 25-35 feet.  The basic five-section
configuration weighs 19,500 pounds.  Nineteen- inch-wide rack-mounted
equipment is easily accommodated in the main pressure vessel.  With an
endurance range from eight hours at 8 knots to 24 hours at low
propulsion loads, MUST is capable of depths to 2000 feet.  Proven and
proud, the MUST Lab has over 200 successful launches and recoveries to
date.
         This video clip focuses on the MUST Lab launch and recovery
system during at-sea operation.


                           ***

       The Advanced Unmanned Search System (AUSS)

                      Harold Jones
                   Gerald Mackelburg
    Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center
           Naval Research and Development (NRaD)
      Research, Development Test & Evaluation Division
         San Diego, California 92152-5000 USA

         The Advanced Unmanned Search System (AUSS) locates,
identifies, and inspects objects on the ocean bottom at depths from
2,000 feet to 20,000 feet.  A small untethered vehicle provides live
sonar and still-frame optical images of the ocean bottom to operators
on a ship thousands of feet above.  The operators analyze the images,
make tactical decisions, and supervise  vehicle operation.  An
acoustic link transmits compressed search data up to the surface and
also sends high-level commands down to the vehicle.
         AUSS achieves an order-of-magnitude improvement over
conventional underwater search systems in overall search rate, and
provides the capability to perform immediate and detailed optical
inspection of objects found.  The video clip provides a complete
description of all aspects of AUSS deployment and operation.


