Heterogeneous robotic system for underwater oil spill survey

Abstract

The tragic Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 as well as the increase in deepwater offshore activity have increased public interest in counter-measures available for sub-surface releases of hydrocarbons. To arrive at proper contingency planning, response managers urge for a system for instant detection and characterization of accidental releases. Along these lines, this paper describes the application of a heterogeneous robotic system of unmanned vehicles: autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) extended with the oil spill numerical modeling, visualisation and decision support capabilities. A first set of field experiments simulating oil spill scenarios with Rhodamine WT was held in Croatia during the early autumn 2014. The objectives of this experiment were to test: effectiveness of the system for underwater detection of hydrocarbons, including multi-vehicle collaborative navigation and communication as well as visualisation of the system components.