Hybrid underwater robotic vehicles: the state-of-the-art and future trends

Abstract

Most of the ocean resources, which cover over 70% of the Earth's surface, are not well discovered or explored. For decades, ocean communities have resorted to underwater robotic vehicles (URVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to replace human beings or manned underwater vehicles (MUVs) on deep underwater activities. Combining the advantages of ROVs and AUVs, a new type of underwater explorer named the hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HURV) has been developed for both deep-sea exploration and intervention by switching its dual-operation modes for accomplishing underwater tasks during one single cruise deployment. This paper presents an overview of the state-of-the-art URV system, where the HURV system is the main concern. The concept of the HURV is introduced via a comparison with other underwater vehicles, after which the thinking behind the HURV design is examined and the operational procedure of the HURV is described. Subsequently, the specifications and capabilities of typical HURVs worldwide are presented and the latest developments in HURV technology in the Mainland China is explored in detail. Finally, future technology trends and unforeseen potential applications of the HURV system are also discussed.

Keywords:

• underwater vehicle
• MUV
• ROV
• AUV
• HURV

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Ir Dr Kaimin Shih during the preparation of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by National Natural Science Foundation (NNSF) of the Mainland China [under Grant 51209100], National Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province [under Grant 2014CFB253], the Specialised Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education [under Grant 20120142120045] and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [under Grant HUST:2015TS006].

Notes on contributors

Dr Xianbo Xiang received his Ph.D. degree in Robotics from the University of Montpellier 2, France in 2011. He received his bachelor and master's degrees in Automatic Control and Marine Engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Mainland China, in 2000 and 2003, respectively, after which he joined the university as a Lecturer. From September to December 2006, he was an EU Erasmus Mundus visiting scholar for the SpaceMaster project. From February 2008 to March 2011, he worked for the European Project FreeSubNet as an EC Marie Curie ESR Fellow at Laboratoire d'Informatique de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier (LIRMM), CNRS UMR 5506, Montpellier, France. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Mr Zemin Niu received his B.Sc. degree in Marine Engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Mainland China in 2013. Currently, he is a graduate student in the School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Dr Lionel Lapierre received his Ph.D. degree in Robotics from the University of Montpellier 2, France in 1999, after which he joined the team of Prof A Pascoal within the European project FreeSub for three years at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Portugal. Since 2003, he has been with the Robotics Department at the LIRMM, CNRS UMR 5506, Montpellier, France. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Montpellier 2.

Mr Mingjiu Zuo received his B.Sc. degree in Automation from the Central South University, the Mainland China in 2001. He received his master's degree in Control Theory and Control Engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Mainland China in 2007. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at the School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.