Robot Operating System (ROS) on the REMUS AUV using RECON

Abstract

To facilitate sensor integration and provide a testbed for autonomous sense and react research, an onboard sensor processing and autonomy system has been developed for the REMUS 100 AUV using the Robot Operating System (ROS) and the REMUS RECON interface, which provides backseat control of the vehicle. An interface library, pyREMUS, has been developed to handle the REMUS RECON interface, and a ROS package, ros_remus, uses this library to provide a deep level of interoperability between the REMUS vehicle computer and other ROS-based subsystems. This system has been deployed on multiple REMUS 100 vehicles and it is currently used operationally for field research programs. Vehicles outfitted with this system have seen numerous deployments, where they have been used for seabed surveys, sensor evaluation, and engineering tests.