Communication and localisation using underwater acoustics

核材料水下储存设施的例行检查通常由系留车辆或机器人进行。使用不系缆的车辆有若干优点，包括：消除系缆缠绕的危险;车辆定位有更大的自由度;通过使用多个（成群）车辆有机会减少检查时间。传统的水下核储存设施在使用系留潜水器时面临特殊的挑战，因为它们具有杂乱或非结构化的布局。无系留潜水器可能是检查这些设施以支持退役活动的唯一可行方法。使用无系留潜水器对水下储存设施进行导航和检查需要通信和定位（定位）基础设施。当需要以大于10 kbps的速率传输数据时，射频（RF）无线技术在水下的有用范围非常有限，而光学无线技术则受到悬浮固体散射以及发射机和接收机之间直接视线要求的限制。在典型的水下存储设施中，声学通信和定位是一种实用的替代方案。该项目将开发一种声学通信和定位系统，可以改造现有车辆并集成到新设计中。在现有的系留车辆的情况下，其中系绳提供高带宽通信链路，声学系统将提供有价值的位置信息。该系统将使用一系列位于储存设施周围水下的基站。基站从水下航行器接收/向水下航行器发送声学数据，并向操作员提供有线通信链路。基站还提供已知的参考位置（称为锚点），以使得能够确定车辆的位置（定位）。在传统存储设施的非结构化环境中实现可靠的通信和准确的定位将具有挑战性，该项目将在一个具有代表性但良性的测试环境中对系统进行广泛的实验评估。EPSRC研究领域：人工智能技术;机器人技术;传感器和仪器;

The routine inspection underwater storage facilities for nuclear materials is typically conducted by tethered vehicles or robots. The use of untethered vehicles offers a number of advantages, including: removing the hazard of the tether becoming entangled; greater freedom in the positioning of the vehicle; and the opportunity to reduce the inspection time through the use of multiple (swarms) of vehicles. Legacy underwater nuclear storage facilities present a particular challenge when using tethered vehicles due to them having cluttered or unstructured layouts. Untethered vehicles may be the only practical way to inspect these facilities in support of decommissioning activities.The navigation and inspection of underwater storage facilities using non-tethered vehicles requires a communication and localisation (positioning) infrastructure. Radio Frequency (RF) wireless technology has a very limited useful range underwater when required to transmit data at rates greater than 10 kbps, and optical wireless technology is limited by scattering from suspended solids and the requirement for direct line-of-sight between the transmitter and receiver. Across the distances encountered in typical underwater storage facilities, acoustic communication and localisation is a practical alternative. This project will develop an acoustic communication and localisation system that can be retrofitted to existing vehicles and integrated into new designs. In the case of existing tethered vehicles, where the tether provides a high bandwidth communication link, the acoustic system will provide valuable position information. The system will use a series of base-stations positioned underwater around the periphery of the storage facility. The base-stations receive/transmit data acoustically from/to the underwater vehicles, and provide a wired communication link to the operators. The base-stations also provide known reference positions (termed anchors) to enable the positions of the vehicles to be determined (localisation). Achieving reliable communication and accurate positioning in the unstructured environment of the legacy storage facilities will prove challenging, and the project will undertake an extensive experimental evaluation of the system in a representative, but benign, test environment.EPSRC Research Areas: Artificial intelligence technologies; Robotics; Sensors and Instrumentation;