NPS-NASA Collaboration: and Autonomous Systems LT Ryan Hilger 7 JUL 2014

Agenda

•Purpose of the collaborative efforts •Research objectives during NEEMO •Challenges encountered •Lessons learned •Way ahead Purpose

•The NASA Extreme Environments Mission Operations (NEEMO) conducts undersea research as an analog to space operations •Conducted out of the Aquarius Base off the coast of , Florida in September 2013 Purpose

•NPS brought three unmanned vehicles, two REMUS 100 AUVs and one SeaBotix ROV to provide autonomous systems support a simulated asteroid mission

•4 Research Goals

•NASA had their own goals with the autonomous systems we provided •NPS primarily focused on the following objectives: –Test microbathymetry equipment in mapping missions with the AUVs • Conduct simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) missions, preferably with both AUVs, if possible –Conduct diver assist operations with the ROV –Develop greater operational experience with all vehicles in a new environment Challenges

•Field operations with unfamiliar support equipment and deployment of new equipment •Technical issues •Weather Challenges

•Utilized different boats than used to in Monterey •Deployment of new equipment, such as the ultra-short baseline (USBL) navigation buoy –Need for motion stabilization of the transmitter –Field-expedient required! Challenges

•One REMUS AUV was rendered inoperable within the first few days –Power surge from shore power caused significant damage –Attempted in-field repairs with great support from Hydroid with no success

•8 Challenges

•The second REMUS vehicle had software issues resulting in system restarts during missions –Unable to correct this in the field –No mapping mission completed successfully

•9 Challenges

•During the first week, seas were rougher than expected, which hampered in-water operations –Slowed systems integration –Reduced research objectives •Much better seas during the second week! –Significant number of ROV operations –AUV operations as feasible •10 Lessons Learned

•From an educational perspective, this trip yielded several lessons: –Preparing for field experimentation requires significantly more time than you think –Always have 2-3 backup plans that further your research goals –Problem solving in the field requires more flexibility and creativity •11 Way Ahead

•The collaboration continues later this month with the next round of field operations in Key Largo

•12 Questions?

•13