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Publications

Publications by José Miguel Almeida

2018

VAMOS! Underwater Mining Machine Navigation System

Authors
Almeida, J; Ferreira, A; Matias, B; Lomba, C; Martins, A; Silva, E;

Publication
2018 IEEE/RSJ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT ROBOTS AND SYSTEMS (IROS)

Abstract
Limited perception capabilities underwater shrink the envelope of effective localization techniques that can be applied in this environment. Long-term localization in six degrees of freedom can only be achieved by combining different sources of information. A multiple vehicle underwater localization solution, for localizing an underwater mining vehicle and its support vessel, is presented in this paper. The surface vessel carries a short baseline network, that interact with the inverted ultra-short baseline, carried by the underwater mining vehicle. A multiple antenna GNSS system provides data for localizing the surface vessel and to georeference the short baseline array. Localization of the mining vehicle results from a data fusion approach, that combines multiple sources of sensor information using the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) framework. The developed solutions were applied in the context of the VAMOS! European project. Long-term real time position errors below 0.2 meters, for the underwater machine, and 0.02 meters, for the surface vessel, were accomplished in the field. All presented results are based on data acquired in a real scenario.

2018

Positioning, Navigation and Awareness of the VAMOS! Underwater Robotic Mining System

Authors
Almeida, J; Martins, A; Almeida, C; Dias, A; Matias, B; Ferreira, A; Jorge, P; Martins, R; Bleier, M; Nuchter, A; Pidgeon, J; Kapusniak, S; Silva, E;

Publication
2018 IEEE/RSJ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT ROBOTS AND SYSTEMS (IROS)

Abstract
This paper presents the positioning, navigation and awareness (PNA) system developed for the Underwater Robotic Mining System of the VAMOS! project [1]. It describes the main components of the VAMOS! system, the PNA sensors in each of those components, the global architecture of the PNA system, and its main subsystems: Position and Navigation, Real-time Mine Modeling, 3D Virtual reality HMI and Real-time grade system. General results and lessons learn during the first mining field trial in Lee Moor, Devon, UK during the months of September and October 2017 are presented.

2018

Underwater Acoustic Signal Detection and Identification Study for Acoustic Tracking Applications

Authors
Viana, N; Guedes, P; Machado, D; Pedrosa, D; Dias, A; Almeida, JM; Martins, A; Silva, E;

Publication
OCEANS 2018 MTS/IEEE CHARLESTON

Abstract
In this work an acoustic tag detector was developed for the integration in a mobile robotic fish tracking architecture. The present paper presents both the developed system and preliminary results with particular emphasis of the developed solution with the tag manufacturer receiver. The work has been developed in the context of the MYTAG Portuguese RD project, addressing the study and characterisation of the European flounder migrations in the northern estuarine environments of Portugal. The detector is to be integrated in a tracking system using autonomous surface vehicles and fixed buoys. The main objective is to detect tags inserted surgically in flounders for the MYTAG project, while simultaneously identifying them. A detector solution is presented allowing for the detection and identification of V7 VEMCO tags and preliminary comparative results with the commercially available manufacturer receivers are also presented and discussed.

2018

UX 1 system design - A robotic system for underwater mining exploration

Authors
Martins, A; Almeida, J; Almeida, C; Dias, A; Dias, N; Aaltonen, J; Heininen, A; Koskinen, KT; Rossi, C; Dominguez, S; Voros, C; Henley, S; McLoughlin, M; van Moerkerk, H; Tweedie, J; Bodo, B; Zajzon, N; Silva, E;

Publication
2018 IEEE/RSJ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT ROBOTS AND SYSTEMS (IROS)

Abstract
This paper describes the UX-1 underwater mine exploration robotic system under development in the context of the UNEXMIN project. UNEXMIN is an international innovation action funded under the EU H2020 program, aiming to develop new technologies and services allowing the exploration of flooded underground mines. The system is comprised by the UX-1 robot prototype, launch and recovery system, command and control subsystem and a data management and post-processing computational infrastructure. The UX-1 robot is a small spherical robot equipped with a multibeam sonar, five digital cameras and rotating laser line structured light systems. It is capable of obtaining an accurate point cloud of the surrounding environment along with high resolution imagery. A set of mineralogy, water parameters and geophysical sensors was also developed in order to obtain a more comprehensive mine model. These comprise a multi-spectral camera, electro-conductivity, pH, magnetic field sensors, a subbottom sonar, total natural gamma-ray detector, UV-light for fluorescent observation and a water sampling unit. The design of the system is presented along with the robot design. Some preliminary results are also presented and discussed

2019

ISEP/INESC TEC Aerial Robotics Team for Search and Rescue Operations at the euRathlon 2015

Authors
Sousa, P; Ferreira, A; Moreira, M; Santos, T; Martins, A; Dias, A; Almeida, J; Silva, E;

Publication
JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT & ROBOTIC SYSTEMS

Abstract
This paper presents the results from search and rescue missions performed with the aerial robot OTUS in the the context of the ISEP/INESC TEC aerial robotics team participation on the euRathlon 2015 robotics competition. The multi-domain (land, sea and air) search and rescue scenario is described and technical solution adopted is presented with emphasis on the perception system. The calibration of the image based system is addressed. Results from the operational missions performed are also discussed. The aerial autonomous vehicle was able to successfully perform multiple tasks from the aerial reconnaissance and 3D mapping to the identification of leaking pipes, obstructed passages and missing workers. The system was validated a realistic operational scenario and won the Grand Challenge in cooperation with land and marine robotics partner teams. This challenge was the first time that a real time collaborative team of aerial, land and marine robots was deployed successfully in a search and rescue mission.

2017

Autonomous Systems in remote areas of the Ocean using BLUECOM plus communication network

Authors
Ferreira, H; Silva, F; Sousa, P; Matias, B; Faria, A; Oliveira, J; Almeida, JM; Martins, A; Silva, E;

Publication
OCEANS 2017 - ANCHORAGE

Abstract
The authors present a series of sea trails with autonomous systems using a long-range communication network. The continuous monitoring of the oceans and realtime data gathering/monitoring is a key issue in future marine challenges. To have long range communication, between land and ships at tens of kilometers', the authors used the BlueCom+ project research trials and tested their robotic systems. Bluecom+ project intends to fill the gap of long range communication with high bandwidth. It was demonstrated the usefulness of the system using autonomous systems, such as a small unmanned vehicle (ROAZ USV) for bathymetric mapping and tested an underwater acoustic positioning and communications system. © 2017 Marine Technology Society.

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