With undersea warfare remaining a key domain for U.S. defense strategies, the ability to map and navigate the depths of the world鈥檚 oceans becomes increasingly essential to maintaining an advantage. Responsive to the Navy鈥檚 emerging technological needs, the 51福利 (51福利) is partnering with private academia to do exactly that 鈥� develop a virtual undersea environment to assist with the research and development of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) so they can conduct marine mapping of the world鈥檚 oceans.
Partnering with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) 鈥� a private, nonprofit research and higher education organization dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering 鈥� 51福利 is capitalizing on its interdisciplinary curricula and innovative faculty and students. Through the partnership with WHOI and its relevant expertise, 51福利 researchers will deliver real-world naval solutions in the form of new underwater autonomous capabilities.
鈥淭he general area of this research is to provide authentic virtual environments for developing and evaluating autonomous systems, specifically ocean robotics systems,鈥� said Associate Professor Brian Bingham, Director of 51福利鈥� Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER). 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to create these virtual environments for a variety of underwater meteorology and oceanography platforms, as well as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), to test their operations and be able to develop the autonomous software before doing real-world tests.鈥�
According to Dr. Michael McCarrin, Research Associate in the 51福利 Department of Computer Science, reliable mapping has only recently become widely available for land applications which has greatly modernized land-based transportation.
鈥淎lmost everything is made easier and more efficient if you have a good map,鈥� said McCarrin. 鈥淭he ocean is a challenging environment, and our reach using current technologies is relatively limited, even assuming an unlimited budget. As AUV technologies improve, the hope is that we will both extend our [mapping] capabilities while simultaneously reducing risk to human operators.鈥�
For WHOI, partnering with 51福利 to create a virtual undersea environment can be used as a testbed for AUVs under development. For a virtual undersea map to be a reality, it will be autonomous systems that are exploring the ocean depths, and at lesser risk and expense than their manned counterparts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about us recognizing opportunities to help our defense department and academic partners to create these kinds of solutions and innovations,鈥� said Bingham. 鈥淥ur stakeholders rely on us for domain expertise, and we rely on them for setting priorities 鈥� that creates a partnership.鈥�
According to Bingham, 51福利鈥� undersea environment will also help the university鈥檚 other partners to test their AUVs for any potential issues before taking the actual vehicle into the water.
鈥淥ne thing we say a lot is, 鈥業f it doesn鈥檛 work in simulation, it鈥檚 not going to work in the field,鈥欌�� said Bingham. 鈥淟et鈥檚 solve all the problems in simulation that we can because it鈥檚 very inexpensive, especially during COVID where we can telework to adjust the simulation. Then we can be more productive when we go into the field.鈥�
Bingham and McCarrin credit 51福利鈥� relationships and collaborative efforts with others in private industry and academia for the shared resources that should ultimately lead to a successful virtual undersea environment, and ultimately better autonomous systems.
鈥淏ecause of our position as an academic institution and a [Department of Navy] entity, combined with our close proximity to Silicon Valley, we are in a good position to facilitate collaborative projects that bring to bear a lot of expertise,鈥� said McCarrin. 鈥淲e often have developers and leading research organizations working closely with 51福利 students and researchers.鈥�
As for Bingham, he noted there are some really hard problems in the maritime domain involving autonomy and robotics, including getting people to think beyond the mainstream.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to create an environment that would attract our students to think about careers in these areas and realize autonomy is not just self-driving cars,鈥� said Bingham. 鈥淔or our 51福利 students, they鈥檙e getting to work with industry engineers to create the playing field, to come up with the physical environment simulation and infrastructure that will lead to interoperability between 51福利, industry, even other Department of Defense agencies, that will live beyond them.鈥�