Undersea Exploration
Novint is working with an oceanographic institute to integrate haptic interaction into undersea exploration systems (i.e., underwater vehicles).  In this three-year effort, we are developing a 3D touch-enabled mission rehearsal system (i.e., simulation) and real-time control system for underwater vehicle operations.

3 views from the v-Dig application are shown. While planning an underwater mission, a user can see the underwater vehicle from several angles, including the view that will be seen during an actual mission. The right panel shows a brush digging through the silt which the user can feel.

During the first year of this effort, we developed a touch-enabled, PC-based, virtual environment (VE) for mission rehearsal.  This VE has been set-up to help plan and practice undersea archeological expeditions.  The user is able to control the motion of a model of a remotely operated underwater vehicle.  The user can control the manipulators (i.e., robot arms) on the model and interact with the simulation of the bottom terrain and simulated archeological objects.  The user can “dig” into the bottom using various excavation tools attached to the manipulator (e.g., brush and vacuum tools) and feel any collisions with the archeological artifacts.  The bottom simulation is such that it acts like a mud bottom.  Motion constraints can be added to the manipulator to limit its range of motion (e.g., avoid regions known to have fragile artifacts).  During the second year of the effort, we will be extending the simulation to allow updating of the VE from the underwater vehicle’s sensors and to directly control its operation.  We will be able to update the model of the bottom in real-time using sonar and video sensor information and we will be able to control the manipulators on the real vehicle.

Telerobotic Underwater Vehicle Control
We are currently developing a mission planning system for an autonomous underwater vehicle.  This system will allow users to plan the overall mission for a CETUS™ (Composite Endoskeleton Testbed Untethered Underwater Vehicle Systems) system.  This underwater vehicle is a new low-cost unmanned underwater vehicle used for undersea search and inspection.  Our mission planning systems allows the user to control the vehicle and understand its status in a straightforward, easy-to-use manner.

CETUS™ Unmanned Underwater Vehicle