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Published March 2010 | public
Journal Article

Performance evaluation of underwater platforms in the context of space exploration

Abstract

Robotic platforms are essential for future human planetary and lunar exploration as they can operate in more extreme environments with a greater endurance than human explorers. In this era of space exploration, a terrestrial analog that can be used for development of the coordination between manned and robotic vehicles will optimize the scientific return of future missions while concurrently minimizing the downtime of both human explorers and robotic platforms. This work presents the use of underwater exploratory robots – autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), remotely operated vehicles (ROV), and manned submersibles – as analogues for mixed human–robot exploration of space. Subaqueous settings present diverse challenges for navigation, operation and recovery that require the development of an exploration model of a similar complexity as required for space exploration. To capitalize on the strengths of both robotic and human explorers this work presents lessons learnt with respect to the fields of human–robotic interface (HRI) and operator training. These are then used in the development of mission evaluation tools: (1) a task efficiency index (TEI), (2) performance metrics, and (3) exploration metrics. Although these independent evaluations were useful for specific missions, further refinement will be required to fully evaluate the strengths and capabilities of multiple platforms in a human–robotic exploration campaign in order to take advantage of unforeseen science opportunities in remote settings.

Additional Information

© 2009 Elsevier. Received 18 February 2009; revised 28 July 2009; accepted 17 August 2009. Available online 31 August 2009. The Pavilion Lake Research Project and UBC-Gavia operations at Pavilion Lake were supported by the Canadian Space Agency Canadian Analogue Research Network (CARN) program, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrobiology program, the National Geographic Society Committee for Research Exploration (CRE), and the Canadian National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery program. Funding for the purchase of UBC-Gavia was provided by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, and the University of British Columbia. Support for the AUV operations in Bonaire was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Ocean Exploration. Alexander Forrest was supported by a Canada NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship-Doctorate(PGS-D)scholarship. Operations at Pavilion Lake would not be possible without the support of the Ts'Kw'aylaxw First Nation, the Pavilion Lake Community, Mickey and Linda Macri, Donnie Reid ,Dale Anderson, Harry Bohm, and BC Parks. We also acknowledge the technical support of Martin Doble from the University of Cambridge, UK who worked hard to ensure that our under-ice endeavors were successful. Tom Hiller and James Baxter of GeoAcoustics provided technical support and data processing of the Geoswath data. This manuscript represents Pavilion Lake Research Project publication #09-01.

Additional details

Created:
August 21, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023