Marine ecosystems observation by a cooperative AUV in the PLOME project

84 ins umen a ion iewpOin - 21 - MARTECH 23 ID45 MARINE ECOSYSTEMS OBSERVATION BY A COOPERATIVE AUV IN THE PLOME PROJECT Ma c Ca e as101, Na cís Palome as166, Pau Vial167, Ma a Real168, Pe e Ridao169, Joaquín del Río19, Daniel Mihai Toma24, Juan Manuel López170, Gab iel Oli e 171, F ancisco Bonin7, Na àlia Hu ós172, Jacopo Aguzzi35 and Damianos Cha zie angelou9 Keywo ds - Ecosys em moni o ing, pla o m o obse ing, emo e obse a ion, AUV, unde wa e communica ions, unde wa e localisa ion, pa h planning, deep lea ning, image p ocessing, op ical and acous ic seabed mapping. Figu e 1. Gi ona 1000 AUV and i s payload o he PLOME p ojec . ABSTRACT To imp o e ou unde s anding o how ma ine ecosys ems unc- ion, i is c ucial o quan i y hei p ocesses using p ope spa- io- empo al mul ipa ame ic moni o ing echniques. Science and inno a i e echnologies mus play a cen al ole in de eloping he Blue G ow h in a sus ainable manne , whe e ad ances in enabling echnologies such as emo e sensing, modelling, AI and au ono- mous sys ems, will enhance ou capaci y o moni o and p edic , assess and manage ecosys ems. The PLOME p ojec p oposes a spa ially adap i e, non-in asi e, modula pla o m o indepen- den and wi elessly connec ed ben hic s a ions and AUVs o in- elligen ly obse e, moni o and map ma ine ecosys ems, du ing long-las ing pe iods wi h eal- ime supe ision. The moni o ing solu ion has a simple deploymen and is easy- o-mo e om an expe imen al si e o ano he , wi hou any cable ins alla ion, o coas al and deep wa e en i onmen s. S a ions p o ide con inu- ous and in ensi e empo al obse a ion, while AUVs can p o ide such in ensi e measu emen a spa ial le el, when hey undock o a mission om a s a ion in which hey p e iously echa ged ba e ies and ansmi ed in o ma ion. The PLOME p ojec will demons a e he p oposed concep in wo scena ios. The i s one, in ol es es ing independen capabili ies in a eal deep-sea scena io, while he second one en ails a one- week demons a ion in shallow wa e , whe e an AUV will be op- e a ed om a docking s a ion. This pape desc ibes he Gi ona 1000 AUV om he Uni e si a de Gi ona ha will be used o he deep es s , conduc ed a dep hs anging om 200 o 400 me- e s. The AUV will be used in coope a ion wi h wo ixed s a ions de eloped by he Uni e si a Poli ècnica de Ca alunya. Acous ic communica ions and anges be ween he AUV and he s a ions will be used o coo dina e he AUV’s wo k and o imp o e i s na - iga ion. Op ical communica ions will be used o ansmi da a o he s a ions ga he ed om he AUV obse a ions. The AUV will in eg a e a mul imodal senso payload, including an op ical cam- e a and LED ligh ing sys em, a lase o mic oba hyme y and a o wa d-looking sona o acous ic mapping. The AUV will also be able o p ocess some o he da a o ansmi ele an in o ma ion o he s a ions. Deep lea ning echniques will be used in eal- ime o de ec species on he op ical came a images, 3D poin -clouds will be gene a ed o desc ibe he seabed’s p o ile, and onboa d acous ic mosaicking will gene a e an acous ic map o he seabed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This esea ch has been suppo ed by he PLOME p ojec (Re . LEC2021-007525/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, www.plomep oj- ec .es