Aided Diver Navigation Using Autonomous Vehicles in Simulated Underwater Environment*

Abstract

Man's admiration of the underwater world has been recorded ever since ancient times and to this day, it does not cease to amaze large sections of modern society. Whether for recreational or sport purposes, commercial activities or strategic military operations, the underwater environment plays an amusing yet inhospitable host to its many explorers. Knowledge and respect for our oceans are keys for a sustainable and safe relationship between humans and the underwater. People have often used their ingenuity for adaptation to various environments and the technology for allowing divers to reach extreme places in a safe manner is developing rapidly. This paper will investigate benefits of using robots as diving buddies for aiding underwater navigation. In a typical dive mission scenario, a diver is given relative distance and bearings to an underwater target as he tries to overcome environmental influences to navigate to that target using customary diving equipment; a compass and diving computer/watch. Diving robots can introduce sensors capable of achieving advanced navigation and guiding divers even in low visibility conditions. The experiment in this paper compares these two approaches and validates the results in a simulation environment on 26 participants. The success rate in finding and reaching the targets are compared in terms of time and distance travelled. Finally, the simulation tools are evaluated by participants as well as its potential in developing algorithms and user training using a NASA-TLX workload estimation scale.