Objective
AMADEUS is a programme of work focused on improving the dexterity and sensory abilities of underwater manipulation systems, in support of marine geology and benthic science. It aims to enhance the generic manipulative abilities of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV), to supplement or substitute for surface deployed dredgers, corers and samplers.
Phase 1 of the programme will draw to a close at the end of December 1995. In it, a dextrous three fingered underwater gripper has been developed, incorporating force and slip sensors, which employs a control system to allow automatic grasping of objects up to 150mm diameter and 5Kg mass in conditions of zero visibility. At the end of phase 1, it will operate as a laboratory prototype, and demonstrate sampling operations on typical objects. Phase 2 will progress to grasping much larger and heavier objects, and to carrying out trials in the ocean with marine geologists and benthic scientists. Of particular interest is the co-ordinated use of a pair of UUV manipulators for grasping and manipulation, and the incorporation and use of additional sensory information such as optical and acoustic vision. This addresses areas C.2.1 C.2.2 C.1.1 and C.1.3 of the MAST III workplan.
To this end, the sensing and control computational hierarchy will be implemented for automatic grasping and manipulation using a pair of underwater manipulators. Also, the existing gripper technology from phase 1 will be ruggedised, reduced in size and mounted on an existing 7 function underwater manipulator. In parallel, an investigation into the use of vision information using CCD cameras, fibre optic bundles and echo sounders will enhance the gripper/manipulator sensor suite. The manipulators and gripper will be mounted on a suitable test frame, and deployed in the ocean in shallow water to carry out practical experiments. Marine biologist and benthic scientists will specify the system requirements and final experiments, and will provide access and facilities at trial sites in the Mediterranean Sea. Automatic sampling of a wide variety of object sizes and types will thus be demonstrated in a practical context, in conditions of varying visibility.
The consortium comprises 1 Scottish, 2 Italian, 1 Spanish and 1 Greek partner, providing a balance of engineering, subsea robotics, marine geology and benthic science expertise from across the EU. The phase 1 consortium has worked well, and has therefore been maintained and extended as necessary. The number of partners (5) remains a manageable number. Although the project demonstrator is pre-competitive, several aspects of the technology have other applications in marine engineering.
Where appropriate we anticipate more commercial exploitation through EUREKA and EUROMAR at the end of phase 2.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering control systems
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors optical sensors
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics
- natural sciences physical sciences optics fibre optics
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering naval engineering
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Coordinator
EH14 4AS Edinburgh
United Kingdom
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