Abstract
Operations in the underwater domain have become increasingly popular, due to recent technological advancements and commercial interest. The vast majority of commercial or research underwater operations are currently performed by skilled human operators. They are notorious for their tedious logistics, they are limited in duration and depth due to human biology, and they also introduce risks to the participants. This unfortunate truth especially holds in challenging situations, such as overhead environments, dynamic surroundings, and wave zone conditions; a typical situation in industrial aquaculture operations. Marine robots could both mitigate such risks and expand underwater operations in the near future. This presentation will discuss research that enables AUVs to navigate and inspect safely and in real-time, addressing the intersection of the aforementioned conditions. Moreover, recent advancements will be covered on enabling autonomous operation of complex articulated and bio-inspired AUVs. The presentation aspires to provide arguments on how focusing on challenging problems with convenient abstractions may result into new insights and perspectives that robustify underwater autonomy.