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.

起源于冰川排放和冰原产犊的冰山是极地地区的重要因素。在他们的寿命中，他们漂移了杂化和运输淡水，影响了当地的环境和大规模的海洋过程，例如海平面上升。冰山还冒着高纬度地区海洋运输的风险，可能会损坏包括海底电缆和管道在内的近海设备。能够快速评估冰山和周围的水状况对于回答与冰山相关的科学问题和海上运营的风险管理非常重要。该奖项支持机器人冰山哨兵（Rise）系统的开发，以获得准确的冰山形状及其周围水状况的准确测量。将创建一个综合的冰山映射数据集，以验证冰山漂移和确定模型，并改善经验冰山几何模型。结果将促进我们对冰山对本地和全球环境的影响的理解。该项目将推动海洋机器人技术在水下定位，基于覆盖的路径计划和机器人间协作中的基础。首先，将开发出冰山引用的定位算法来定位水下资产，即，相对于翻译和旋转的冰山，自动驾驶水下车辆（AUV）和驾驶浮子。这将推动机器人本地化在非惯性框架中的现状。此外，将开发一种基于在线覆盖的路径计划系统，以指导AUV通过在不同深度绕过冰山，形成冰山下水下部分的完整体积扫描。该研究的系统将采用一种新的逆向模型，以更好地代表环境和新的基于信息的实用程序功能，以平衡探索和剥削目标。最后，将开发有关沟通和操作约束的新路径规划策略，以推动机器人间协作的领域。一位路径规划师将在线动态调整自主地表车辆（ASV）的路径，以向AUV提供可靠的通信支持，而另一个计划者则确定最佳的部署事件和位置，以最大程度地提高不确定洋流的驾驶浮子机队的灵敏度覆盖率。该项目将通过参加URI的夏季海洋研究奖学金（SURFO）计划以及UHM的夏威夷科学与工程指导计划（NHSEMP）的夏季本科研究奖学金（SURFO）计划来扩大服务不足的群体的参与，以及在UHM的夏威夷科学与工程学指导计划（NHSEMP），以及来自少数少数学院的当地高中学生的新夏季工作室。该项目与罗德岛设计学院（RISD）合作，将生产新的视觉和专家数字产品，以描述冰山的关键性质及其对环境的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准来评估通过评估而被认为是宝贵的。