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Development and field experiments of a human-portable towed ROV for high-speed and wide area data acquisition

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Abstract

This paper presents field experiments to test a human-portable towed remotely operated vehicle developed for shallow seabed image data acquisition at high speeds and over a wide range. Through analysis and fundamental experiments, we designed and developed the towed ROV with a multi-camera unit. The portable vehicle can be operated even from small boats. Therefore, it offers an alternative survey method to a Manta tow survey guided by divers. We also conducted field experiments to verify the effectiveness of its motion performance and image acquisition performance. The multi-camera unit mounted on the towed ROV recorded seabed images at several speeds of 0.67–1.52 m/s. After the experiments, we built several 3D models of the seabed offline using experimentally obtained images. From those experimentally obtained results, we conclude that this towed ROV with the multi-camera unit is promising for use in wide area observations and periodic monitoring of shallow seabed areas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Kotaro Yamafune (Apparatus LLC) for helping us design the multi-camera unit and construct the 3D model of the archaeological site at Ishigaki Island. This work was supported by a JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) Grant Number 18K04073.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tokai University, Shizuoka, Japan

    Norimitsu Sakagami

  2. National Institute of Technology, Okinawa College, Nago, Japan

    Keita Hirayama, Ryo Taba, Shota Kobashigawa, Seita Arashiro & Fumiaki Takemura

  3. Kagawa University, Takamatsu, Japan

    Satoru Takahashi

Authors
  1. Norimitsu Sakagami
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  2. Keita Hirayama
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  3. Ryo Taba
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  4. Shota Kobashigawa
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  6. Fumiaki Takemura
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  7. Satoru Takahashi
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Correspondence to Norimitsu Sakagami.

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Sakagami, N., Hirayama, K., Taba, R. et al. Development and field experiments of a human-portable towed ROV for high-speed and wide area data acquisition. Artif Life Robotics 26, 1–9 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-020-00616-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-020-00616-4

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