NRI/Collaborative Research: Robotic Iceberg Sentinels (RISE)

NRI/合作研究：冰山哨兵机器人 (RISE)

• 批准号: 2221677
• 负责人: Michael Krieg
• 金额: $ 45.55万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2221677&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NRI; Collaborative; Research; Robotic; Iceberg

Icebergs, originating from glacier discharge and ice sheet calving, are an important factor in polar regions. During their life-span, they drift equatorward and transport freshwater, affecting local environments and large-scale ocean processes, such as the sea-level rise. Icebergs also pose a risk to marine transportation at high latitudes and can damage offshore equipment including subsea cables and pipelines. Being able to rapidly assess icebergs and the surrounding water conditions is important for answering iceberg-related science questions and risk management for offshore operations. This award supports the development of the Robotic Iceberg Sentinel (RISE) system for obtaining accurate in-situ measurements of icebergs’ shapes and their surrounding water conditions. A comprehensive iceberg mapping data set will be created for validating iceberg drift and deterioration models, and improving empirical iceberg geometrical models. The result will advance our understanding of iceberg impacts on local and global environments. The project will advance the foundation of marine robotics in underwater localization, coverage-based path planning and inter-robot collaboration. First, iceberg-referenced localization algorithms will be developed to localize underwater assets, i.e., the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and drifting floats, relative to the translating and rotating iceberg. This will advance the state of the art of robot localization in non-inertial frames. Furthermore, an online coverage-based path planning system will be developed to guide an AUV to form a complete volumetric scan of the underwater portion of the iceberg by circumnavigating the iceberg at different depths. This researched system will feature a new inverse-sonar model to better represent the environment and a new information-based utility function to balance exploration and exploitation objectives. Finally, new path planning strategies accounting for communication and operational constraints will be developed to advance the field of inter-robot collaboration. One path planner will dynamically adjust the path of an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) online to provide reliable communication support to an AUV, while another planner determines the optimal deployment occurrences and locations to maximize the sensing coverage of a fleet of drifting floats in uncertain ocean currents. This project will broaden the participation of under-served groups through participation in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Oceanography (SURFO) program at URI and the Native Hawaiian Science & Engineering Mentorship Program (NHSEMP) at UHM, and a new summer workshop for students from a local high school with high minority-enrollment. In collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), this project will produce new visual and experiential digital products to describe the critical nature of icebergs and their impacts to the environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

冰山起源于冰川放电和冰盖崩解，是极地地区的一个重要因素，在其生命周期中，它们向赤道漂移并输送淡水，影响当地环境和大规模海洋过程，例如海平面上升。冰山还对高纬度地区的海上运输构成风险，并可能损坏海底电缆和管道等海上设备。能够快速评估冰山和周围的水体状况对于回答与冰山相关的科学问题和风险非常重要。该奖项支持开发机器人冰山哨兵（RISE）系统，以获取冰山形状及其周围水域状况的准确现场测量，并将创建一个全面的冰山测绘数据集，以验证冰山漂移和变化。该项目将推进海洋机器人在水下定位、基于覆盖的路径规划和机器人间协作方面的基础。首先，将开发以冰山为参考的定位算法来定位水下资产，即相对于平移和旋转冰山的自主水下航行器（AUV）和漂流浮标，这将推进非机器人定位的最新技术。此外，还将开发基于在线覆盖的路径规划系统，以引导 AUV 通过在不同深度环绕冰山来形成冰山水下部分的完整体积扫描。系统将采用新的反声纳模型来更好地表示环境，并采用新的基于信息的效用函数来平衡勘探和开发目标。最后，将开发考虑通信和操作限制的新路径规划策略，以推进交互领域。 - 机器人协作。一个路径规划器将在线动态调整自主水面车辆（ASV）的路径，为 AUV 提供可靠的通信支持，而另一个规划器则确定最佳部署事件和位置，以最大限度地扩大漂流车队的传感覆盖范围。漂浮在不确定的洋流中。该项目将通过参加 URI 的夏季本科生海洋学研究奖学金 (SURFO) 计划和 UHM 的夏威夷原住民科学与工程指导计划 (NHSEMP) 以及为来自以下国家的学生举办一个新的夏季研讨会，扩大服务不足群体的参与范围：该项目将与罗德岛设计学院 (RISD) 合作，制作新的视觉和体验式数字产品，以描述冰山的关键性质及其对环境的影响。通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。