High-speed wide area of shallow seabed 3D map creation using towed underwater robot

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K04073
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 20020:Robotics and intelligent system-related
• Research Institution: Okinawa National College of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Takemura Fumiaki 沖縄工業高等専門学校, 機械システム工学科, 教授 (70455187)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 坂上 憲光 東海大学, 海洋学部, 教授 (20373102) ; 高橋 悟 香川大学, 創造工学部, 教授 (50297579)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 海洋探査 / 曳航型水中ロボット / 3D地図

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A towed underwater robot is used to collect seafloor photographs over a wide area at high speed. 3D mapping of the seafloor is useful data for academic and practical understanding. One of the monitoring methods in the shallow waters of coral reefs is the manta-method for towing divers. The manta-method can be carried out inexpensively using conventional equipment such as small boats, digital cameras, and divers' air tanks. However, the dive time and depth are restricted according to the rules for safety. The towed underwater robot by a small ship, which is the proposed method, can reduce the burden on humans such as divers and eliminate the danger because the underwater robot is towed by a ship. By towing at a towing speed of approx. 1.21 m/s, we were able to create a 3D map of the seafloor with a width of approx. 10 m and a length of approx. 20 m.

Free Research Field

フィールドロボティクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本提案手法は従来，ダイバーで行われていたマンタ法を水中ロボットで行えることを示した．従来の手法は人手で行われているため，肉体的負担・危険性を伴っていたが，本手法はその除去を行うことができる手法である．また，曳航型水中ロボットを使うことで高速に広域の海底の情報収集を行うことができる．これは，従来の人手で行っていた手法より，安価・短時間で情報収集を行え，海底3D地図を定期的に取得できる可能性を示した．定期的に海中の情報を収集することで，海で何が起きているのか，我々にどのようなことが起きるのか，持続可能な社会のためにどのようはことが必要とされるか，に繋がる気づきを与えると考える．