EAPSI: Real-time 3D Reconstruction for Autonomous Underwater Manipulation

该项目的重点是开发和测试算法，使水下机器人系统能够在没有用户输入的情况下，实时感知、识别并从海底检索物体。这项工作将与澳大利亚悉尼大学澳大利亚野外机器人中心（ACFR）的Stefan Williams博士合作进行。威廉姆斯博士是水下机器人感知和导航领域的专家，ACFR拥有开展这项工作的理想车辆和设施。这项工作的几个应用包括深海科学采样和勘探，以及海洋设备的建造和维护。该项目的目标是开发实时水下感知的新方法，以实现在水环境中的自主干预。将开发使用输入立体视觉图像进行实时水下三维重建的方法，用于水下自主抓取应用。这些新方法将通过配备立体视觉摄像机和单一功能机械手的远程操作车辆（ROV）进行验证。主要目标将是在视觉上实时重建海底的物体，然后捡起那个物体。3D重建的结果将与激光获取的地面真相进行比较，并通过观察与外部一组相机的交互任务来确定抓取的有效性。最终，研究结果将展示水下闭环抓取，这是自主干预的基本任务，对于深海科学采样和海上设备维护等应用是必要的。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会和澳大利亚科学院共同资助，隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期研究所项目，支持美国研究生进行暑期研究。

The focus of this project is to develop and test algorithms to enable an underwater robotic system with a manipulator to sense, recognize, and retrieve an object from the seafloor, in real-time, with no user input. This work will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Stefan Williams of the Australian Center for Field Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney, Australia. Dr. Williams is an expert in the field of perception and navigation for underwater robotics, and ACFR has vehicles and facilities ideal for carrying out this work. Several applications of this work include deep-sea scientific sampling and exploration, and construction and maintenance of offshore equipment.The objective of this project is to develop novel methods for real-time underwater perception to enable autonomous intervention in aqueous environments. Methods will be developed for real-time underwater 3D reconstruction using input stereo-vision imagery for the application of autonomous grasping underwater. These novel methods will be validated through testing on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with stereo-vision cameras and a single function manipulator. The main goals will be to visually reconstruct an object on the seafloor in real-time and then pick up that object. Results of the 3D reconstruction will be compared to laser-acquired ground truth and through observing the interaction task with an external set of cameras to determine effectiveness in grasping. Ultimately, the results will demonstrate closed loop grasping underwater, a fundamental task for autonomous intervention, which is necessary for applications such as deep-sea scientific sampling and maintenance of offshore equipment.This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Australian Academy of Science.