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The Telesupervised Adaptive Ocean Sensor Fleet (TAOSF) Architecture: Coordination of Multiple Oceanic Robot BoatsEarth science research must bridge the gap between the atmosphere and the ocean to foster understanding of Earth s climate and ecology. Ocean sensing is typically done with satellites, buoys, and crewed research ships. The limitations of these systems include the fact that satellites are often blocked by cloud cover, and buoys and ships have spatial coverage limitations. This paper describes a multi-robot science exploration software architecture and system called the Telesupervised Adaptive Ocean Sensor Fleet (TAOSF). TAOSF supervises and coordinates a group of robotic boats, the OASIS platforms, to enable in-situ study of phenomena in the ocean/atmosphere interface, as well as on the ocean surface and sub-surface. The OASIS platforms are extended deployment autonomous ocean surface vehicles, whose development is funded separately by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). TAOSF allows a human operator to effectively supervise and coordinate multiple robotic assets using a sliding autonomy control architecture, where the operating mode of the vessels ranges from autonomous control to teleoperated human control. TAOSF increases data-gathering effectiveness and science return while reducing demands on scientists for robotic asset tasking, control, and monitoring. The first field application chosen for TAOSF is the characterization of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). We discuss the overall TAOSF architecture, describe field tests conducted under controlled conditions using rhodamine dye as a HAB simulant, present initial results from these tests, and outline the next steps in the development of TAOSF.
Document ID
20100037239
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Elfes, Alberto
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Podnar, Gregg W.
(Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Dolan, John M.
(Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Stancliff, Stephen
(Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Lin, Ellie
(Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Hosler, Jeffrey C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Ames, Troy J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Higinbotham, John
(Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. Greenbelt , MD, United States)
Moisan, John R.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Moisan, Tiffany A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Kulczycki, Eric A.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 2008
Subject Category
Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence And Robotics
Report/Patent Number
IEEEAC Paper 1293
Meeting Information
Meeting: IEEE Aerospace Conference
Location: Big Sky, MT
Country: United States
Start Date: March 1, 2008
Sponsors: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX06AF27G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
sensor web
harmful algal blooms (HABs)
OASIS Mission Operations Environment (MOE)
Telesupervised Adaptive Ocean Sensor Fleet (TAOSF) Architecture
multirobot systems
robot boats
OASIS robot vessels
telesupervised architecture
ocean sensing

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