Autonomous Vehicle Navigation

Developing Marine Robotics for the Western Indian Ocean - Needs, designs and applications

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is one of the fastest warming parts of the global ocean. There is no doubt that this is due to Climate Change. Model projections indicate Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the tropical WIO will rise some 5°C by 2100 with drastic destructive changes in the marine ecosystems and fisheries, impacting food security for the 60 M people who are dependent on this ocean. Inland droughts will accentuate this problem. By 2035 emergency food relief will be need in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Comoros, and Somalia (already happening). Emergency mitigation

Underwater Robot for Shallow Water Pipeline Inspection & Monitoring

Hassane Trigui, Research & Development Center, Aramco

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Remotely operated Vehicles (ROVs) are widely used in deep water to perform various types of activities in the Oil and Gas sector and beyond. However, for extreme shallow waters, that is less than 10 meters in depth, the ROV market is severely underserved. In addition, ROV operations in shallow waters are more challenging than deeper waters due to the difficulty in accessing shallow sites with large vessels that can support divers and ROVs in their operations. Robotics Engineers from Aramco have developed a unique underwater robot specifically designed to operate in shallow waters area

Autonomous marine mapping, current situation and future possibilities

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the last decade marine robotics and autonomous research has started to grow in the Red Sea, led by KAUST researchers, marine startup companies and now with the various new Giga Projects. In the early days this work often had a heavy human component for the launch, recovery and control. New emerging technologies for remotely telemetry are helping to solve this, as are combined autonomous survey solutions. Using multiple autonomous systems, on the sea surface, underwater and airborne in a single survey campaign is proving to be extremely efficient with significantly more data being

Frontiers in Marine Research Robotics

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Marine robotics have evolved substantially since the early days of autonomous underwater vehicles which meant a multimillion-dollar vehicle always accompanied by a surface vehicle. An early step forward in scientific vehicles was the development of the buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicles which could stay at sea for months and traverse large distances and depths down to 1000m, albeit slowly. Critical needs exist for vehicles that can map, image and characterize the sea bottom, and for intelligent fleet management schemes. The mesophotic (below diver accessible depths) and

At the Limits of the Red Sea - challenges of deep marine sciences

Prof. Froukje M. van der Zwan, Physical Science and Engineering, Earth Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Red Sea is a unique marine environment where we can study the formation of a new ocean basin, which is host to rare ecosystems due to its young and enclosed character and special environmental conditions. The deep Red Sea Rift is particularly interesting as the new oceanic crust is formed by volcanic activity along the entire basin, which, together with hydrothermal activity and the occurrence of brine pools, provides unique habitats. The Red Sea Rift is >1,000 m deep, far past the limits of scuba diving, and reaches almost 3,000 m in some areas. Salinity is >40 PSU, and the

Harnessing the potential for robotics and automation for restoring the worlds coral reefs

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Restoration of Earth's ecosystems has accelerated as a critical management tool in the past decade, particularly for coral reefs where stakeholders have adopted restoration to offset continued declines in reef health. Most coral reef restoration programs remain locally targeted and sub-hectare, where scalability is generated through people networks. Of the few programs that are now beginning to operate at the largest multi-hectare scales - including the KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative (KRRI) - implementation of innovative robotics and automation is seen as key to deliver more

Deep benthic environments: an endless (but stimulating) challenge for marine robotics

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the past 50 years, marine robotics had a huge impact on marine sciences, providing countless support tools for a better understanding of the benthic environments. The endless need for a higher level of resolution in our maps, the application of specific protocols for monitoring programs, measuring the different components of the water column, and collecting the smallest or most delicate biological samples have pushed the technology always over its limits. Finally, the introduction of AI in acoustic and underwater video technologies is bringing now the analyses to a higher level of

Robotics and Automation in Coral Monitoring and Restoration

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Monitoring and preservation of coral reefs are critical for marine biology research, economic development, and environmental protection. Given that long-term survey of marine environments and restoring bleached coral reefs are extremely labor-intensive, autonomous robots are emerging as one of the key solutions to address such challenge. In this talk, we present on-going projects at KAUST Robotics group in conceiving autonomous underwater robots for swift and safe navigation in complex environments to collect high-resolution coral images. We also discuss challenges and opportunities