Guiseppe Conte - Automation and Robotics in Marine Data Gathering

Automation and Robotics in Marine
Data Gathering
G.
G. Conte,
Conte, D.
D. Scaradozzi,
Scaradozzi, S.
S. Zanoli
Zanoli
IPSIT-Split, Croatia-2011
Introduction
• Underwater archaeology can provide valuable information about
practically all aspects of life and organization of the societies that
developed maritime activities or interacted in some way with the
marine environment.
• The study of submerged archaeological sites, mainly wreckage sites, is

difficult because of the harsh characteristics of the environment.
• In traditional marine archaeological surveys, on-site data collection

involves divers and it implies manually recording of a large number of
measures and pictures. The investigators have to return repeatedly to
the same location and the whole process is cumbersome and time
consuming.
• A possible way to overcome these difficulties consists in developing

tools and methods that allow the use of Unmanned Underwater
Vehicles (UUV) in the exploration of submerged archaeological sites.
IPSIT-Split, Croatia-2011 2
Site surveying and data gathering
Standard survey
and excavation
activities on an
STRUCTURING
underwater
archaeological site. THE AREA
Frames and artificial
landmarks are used
to structure the site.
Divers collect CORRELATING
manually pictures DATA
and measures.
(source: Collins –
ATLAS of Archaeology)
INTERPRETING DATA
New Tools and Procedures
• Robotic vehicles can be used to carry cameras, video-
cameras and acoustic sensors in order to collect
automatically optical and acoustic images of the site.
• Automatic data collection increases data density and
accuracy and it allows fast on-line processing.
VENUS
 best practices
 scientific methodologies FOR
 technological tools
 exploring underwater archaeological sites

 gathering data of archaeological interest
 reconstructing the sites in a virtual environment
• The basic need that the project aims to satisfy is that of making accessible, in a
virtual way, deeply submerged archaeological sites both to scientists and to the
general public.
• This possibility is currently of primary interest in marine archaeology, both
both for promoting further studies and for ensuring preservation of fragile
vestiges.
VENUS
Marine Site Exploration Activities
• Data acquisition:
- acoustic and optical
images
- navigation data
Sensor Characteristics of data Acquisition Umbilical
frequency
Photo- JPG image 0,3Hz

Acoustic
camera link
Video- Video Stream - DV - Full HD 25fps
camera
IMU 3axial accelerations and angular 250Hz

velocity, PXI-FPGA
So
nardy
n eU SB L
pitch and roll angles Navigation,
Ins
trum entsm an agement, ROVpo sition
Dataa cquisition,processinga
n d measurem e
n t
Compas Yaw angle (Magnetic North 20Hz archiv
in g
s reference)
Depth Depth 200Hz Umb ilica

l
Pha
n to
m S2
Communic
a tion DeepO ceanE
ngineering
meter ca
b le
a
n dPowe
rS up ply
Sonar Acoustic return 10Hz
USBL Geographic coordinates x,y,z 1Hz NikonD 3 00

O pticalhighqu ality
position (DGPS
4Thrusters im a gea cquis
ition
ing reference)
6
8 K/ColdF ire 2H orizontalact
system RIS
CM ic
ro Controller 2V e
rtra nsa c
t Kong
sbergSo
nar
L owL a ye rsystem ss y
n chroniz
a tion, Bath
y m etricda
ta
C omp ass ,IMU,depth a
c quis
ition
D atafu sio n SonyH
D R
_HC7E
Navigatio ndata
acquisition
Operational Scheme
(B ) (D)
(C)
(A)
OFF-LINE (E)
(L) ON-LINE (H)

(I) (G) (F)
(M)
OFF-LINE
(A) Surface vessels/UUV/Divers survey ; (B) Preliminary map of the site; (C) Archaeologists; (D) Definition of survey’s
goals and waypoints; (E) Engineers; (F) Mission preparation and design; (G) Photos/videos and navigation data acquisition
by ROV; (H) JPEG/EXIF data generation: Images [JPEG area] and Navigation Data (position, attitude, depth, distance
from bottom, sonar return)[EXIF area]; (I) Data processing tools and supervisors; (L) 2D mosaic-maps; (M) 3D maps and
VR from post- processing
New operative scenario
Umbilical
Acoustic
link
Pianosa Mission - 2007
Data from the Archeological Site
PROCESSING
DATA MAPS
Navigation Navigation
Images from Acoustic data from data from
photo/videoa images from navigation positioning
camera Sonar sensors system
(attitude, (position)
depth, others)
On-line
Sampling, alligning Sampling,

JPEG EXIF
alligning, filtering,
fusing
Off-line
AREA AREA
JPEG/EXIF DATA
• Map construction: SIFT + additional information & photomosaicing
On-line (1 picture/800ms) Off-line (about 100 pictures/1800s)
• Map construction (Cadiz “Cannon wreck”, 2008)
Map construction (Tremiti “Lastroni Wreck” and “Piastre Wreck, 2008)
CLIP 1
CLIP 2
Archaeological Campaign at Elba Is.
Preliminary study
The wreck is positioned between 62 m
and 65 m. The covered area is about
4x5m. The coast distance is 250m from
Punta del Nasuto, West of Marciana
Marina harbour. The seabed on which
lie the dolia is muddy and it probably
covers large part of the ship load. Ten
dolia are identified but only four are
well visible out of the seabed. One
dolium is broken.
All visible dolia are tilted in the same
direction, as if the load had suffered a
reversal on one side, perhaps resulting
from the gradual disintegration of the
hull, or by a derailment on impact with
the seabed.
Instrumental analysis of
seabed
Leonardo, NURC, NATO

Research Centre
• Study of Dolia wreck of Marciana Marina (Isola d’Elba – LI, Italy) - ISME
CNRS and SBAT
• Survey missions have been organized in connection with other institutions:
NURC-NATO, Comune di Marciana Marina (Italy), Explorer Team Chimera,
Ormeggiatori di Piombino and Promare Inc.
• Many of the methodologies developed in VENUS were succesfully applied.
Multibeam Sidescan Sonar
High definition Sidescan Sonar Subbotom Profiler
Moors fixing and coordinate measurement
After analysis of the a-priori data coming from
old missions and from fishermen’ indications a
first mission was planned to study moors for
future operations and to evaluate the
geographical position of the site by means of
USBL and (D)GPS positioning system.
I mission: November 2007
http://www.marcianamarina.toscana.it/italiano/STAMPA/Comunicato_Nasuto_07.html
Main finds’ positions measurement and

goreferenced photos survey
Main finds positions measurement and first campaign of goreferenced
photos survey
Main finds positions measurement and first campaign of
goreferenced photos survey
• Map construction
Enhancing the system
ASV
Radio-link • Shore launchable small
alluminum boat (3m; 80Kg)
(D)GPS
for autonomous
• Stirling engine electric
navigation and MiniROV
automatic
generator
positioning
launch/recovery • Electric thrusters
system
(Semi)Autonomous SUPERVISION • On board NGC System
Surface Vehicle • (D)GPS receiver
• USBL
USBL • MiniROV automatic LARS
acoustic
tracking TELEOPERATION • Radio-link
Shore Ground Station

ROV
• VideoRay PRO 4
SURVEY DATA
• Data gathering devices
SHORE GROUND STATION
• PC station
MiniROV
• Radio-link
VideoRay PRO4 • MiniROV telecontrol system
• ASV supervisory system
ASV
Radio-link • Shore launchable small
alluminum boat (3m; 80Kg)
(D)GPS
for autonomous
• Stirling engine electric
navigation and MiniROV
automatic
generator
positioning
launch/recovery • Electric thrusters
system
(Semi)Autonomous SUPERVISION • On board NGC System
Surface Vehicle • (D)GPS receiver
• USBL
USBL • MiniROV automatic LARS
acoustic
tracking TELEOPERATION • Radio-link
Shore Ground Station

ROV
• VideoRay PRO 4
SURVEY DATA
• Data gathering devices
SHORE GROUND STATION
• PC station
MiniROV
• Radio-link
VideoRay PRO4 • MiniROV telecontrol system
• ASV supervisory system
(D)GPS Radio Base Station
ASV Shore Ground Station

ASV NGC System
ASV Supervisory System
MiniROV Autonomous Monitoring System
MiniROV Telecontrol System
MiniROV Automatic LARS
Data Processing/storage Unit
MiniROV energy supply and communication bridge
MiniROV
USBL
Acoustic
VideoRay Pro4
Tracking
Data Gathering Devices
Conclusion
• Recent developments in automation and robotics offer methodologies and
tools which can substantially improve traditional techniques for data gathering
in underwater archaeological investigation.
• Automatic data processing and interpretation allow the construction of geo-

referenced 2D-3D augmented maps of underwater archaeological sites for
study, medium and long term monitoring and preservation.
• Tools and methods have been largely tested and validated in field mission.
• The use of robots and automatic devices for the exploration of the underwater
environment is demanding in terms of equipment and resources and further
efforts are required in order to increase portability and easiness-of-use.
• Integration of ASV and MiniROV is a possible way to build new, advanced

robotic systems which can be launched and governed by shore ground stations
in order to explore the underwater environment in the proximity of the
shoreline.
Conclusion
• Integration of ASV and MiniROV is a possible way to build new, advanced
robotic systems which can be launched and governed by shore ground stations
in order to explore the underwater environment in the proximity of the
shoreline.
Introduction
Roman wrecks in the

Mediterranean Sea
(Source: Collins –Atlas of
Archaeology
Introduction
The submerged
town of Port
Royal in
Jamaica
(source: Collins
– Atlas of
Archaeology)
Introduction
Titanic wreckage (Source:
Parks Stephenson -2005
VENUS
VENUS Partners:
• CNRS, France
• Istituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal
• ISME - Interuniversity Center on Integrated Systems for the Marine
Environment, Italy
• SIMVIS: Simulation & Visualization Research Group - University of Hull,
U.K.
• Laboratoire Informatique, Biologie Intégrative et Systèmes Complexes -
Université d’Evry Val d’Essonne, France
• Leopold-Franzens - Universität Innsbruck, Austria
• COMEX - Compagnie Maritime d'Expertise, France
• MCC - Department for underwater and Undersea archaeological research,
France
• MIBAC-SBAT - Soprintendenza Beni Archeologici della Toscana, Italy
• ADS: Archaeology Data Service - University of York, U.K.
• CNANS - Portuguese Institute of Archaeology, Portugal
Data Gathering
• In traditional marine archaeological surveys, data gathering procedures
involve divers for taking photos and measures, whose correlation and
interpretation is facilitated by structuring the area of interest by means
of frames and artificial landmarks.
• Structuring the area , as well as the manual collection of data, is a hard

and invasive work, that put divers and equipment at risk.
• In order to accomplish the job in a satisfactory and exhaustive way,

investigators have to return repeatedly to the same location and the
whole process is cumbersome, expensive and time consuming.
• Only sites located within the reach of divers (about -50m) can be
thoroughly explored in that way.
STRUCTURING CORRELATING INTERPRETING DATA

THE AREA DATA
Operational Scheme
• Using robotic vehicles (to carry cameras, video-cameras and acoustic
sensors in order) to collect automatically optical and acoustic images
of the site
– correlation may be obtained by navigation data (mainly position in a
DGPS coordinate reference system and attitude, in terms of roll, pitch
and yaw angles), reducing the need of structuring the site;
– sites located at great depth can be reached without risk for human
operator;
– data amount and density can be greatly increased.
• Automatic data collection allows fast processing by means of image

processing and photomosaicing techniques, so that
– preliminary maps of the explored area can be constructed on-line (that is
during the survey procedure) or at the end of any working session;
– the whole data gathering process can be governed by implementing a sort
of logic feedback loop.
• Data density and accuracy allow to construct informative 3D,
augmented representations of the explored area in virtual reality.
• Optical and acoustic images acquisition takes place while the ROV performs
a sequence of parallel, linear transects above the area of interest.
• Shoting frequency is imposed by the flashguns’ recharging time (about 1 shot

every 3s). Low quality images are obtained by sampling the video stream at
10Hz.
• Speed and average distance from the seabed are chosen according to the
shooting frequency and to the characteristics of the photo/video-cameras, in
such a way that subsequent frames overlap.
• Heading, depth and speed are automatically kept constant by the NGC system
of the ROV.
• Acoustic images of the sea bottom are taken automatically (10Hz), as well as
navigation (accelerations, angular velocities, pitch, roll and yaw angles, depth)
and position data (resp. 250Hz, 200Hz, 1Hz).
• The USBL positioning systems provides information about the ROV position
with a delay of about 1s in the acquisition.
New Scenario
New operative scenario:
– data correlation comes from
navigation data (position in a DGPS-
Acoustic coordinate reference
system; attitude in terms of roll,
pitch and yaw angles), reduced need
of structuring the site;
– sites located at great depth can be
reached without risk for human
operator;
– preliminary maps of the explored
area can be constructed on-line or at
the end of any dive;
– the data gathering process is
governed in a feedback mode.
Enhancing the System
• AUV and ASV can be used to enehance the performance of the system
in long range exploration.
• In the framework of VENUS, an ASV named DELFIMx was tested in

order to explore the possibility to install a multi-beam sensor unit on-
board and to use it for automatic seabed mapping in shallow water
scenarios.
The DELFIMx craft is a small Catamaran 4.5 m long
and 2.45 m wide, with a mass of 300 Kg. For
propulsion, the vehicle is equipped with two bladed
propellers driven by electrical motors. The maximum
rated speed of the vehicle with respect to the water is
6 knots. The vehicle is equipped with on-board
resident systems for navigation, guidance and control,
as well as mission control. Navigation is achieved by
integrating motion sensor data obtained from an
attitude reference unit and a DGPS (Differential
Global Positioning System). At the current stage, the
ASV is equipped with a single beam, mechanically
scanned echo-sounder.
Data from the Archeological site
PROCESSING
DATA MAPS/GIS
Site’s Reconstruction
Demonstrators
Demonstrators
Photos
Photos sets
sets • Low-end
Photogrammetric
Photogrammetric seabed
seabed • Semi-
immersive
• Immersive
VR archaelogists
Photogrammetry Archaeological
Database
AR archaelogists
Bathymetric
Bathymetric seabed
seabed
Known
Known Artefacts
Artefacts
VR general public
Dissemination
• B
Bell’Italia - Pianosa - 2008

LineaBlu -Tremiti- 2009

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Automation and Robotics in Marine

• The study of submerged archaeological sites, mainly wreckage sites, is

• In traditional marine archaeological surveys, on-site data collection

• A possible way to overcome these difficulties consists in developing

 exploring underwater archaeological sites

Photo- JPG image 0,3Hz

IMU 3axial accelerations and angular 250Hz

Depth Depth 200Hz Umb ilica

Sonar Acoustic return 10Hz

USBL Geographic coordinates x,y,z 1Hz NikonD 3 00

(L) ON-LINE (H)

Pianosa Mission - 2007

Sampling, alligning Sampling,

Leonardo, NURC, NATO

High definition Sidescan Sonar Subbotom Profiler

Main finds’ positions measurement and

Shore Ground Station

Shore Ground Station

ASV Shore Ground Station

• Automatic data processing and interpretation allow the construction of geo-

• Integration of ASV and MiniROV is a possible way to build new, advanced

Roman wrecks in the

• Structuring the area , as well as the manual collection of data, is a hard

• In order to accomplish the job in a satisfactory and exhaustive way,

STRUCTURING CORRELATING INTERPRETING DATA

• Automatic data collection allows fast processing by means of image

• Shoting frequency is imposed by the flashguns’ recharging time (about 1 shot

• In the framework of VENUS, an ASV named DELFIMx was tested in

Bell’Italia - Pianosa - 2008

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