Control, Modeling, and Perception of Autonomous Systems (CoMPAS) Laboratory seeks to build scalable marine robotics foundations — from creating the basic tools to enabling the main research lines for future developments. We aim to enable exploration without previous knowledge of the environment (such as seafloor maps) in complex terrain with multiple platforms. Based on addressing the fundamental technology challenges will allow getting closer to achieve persistence presence, ocean visualization, adaptive targeted sampling, environmental change detection, and repeated monitoring of the ocean, from benthic to midwater.

The major efforts expected over the next three years in marine robotics include:

  • Scalable Navigation: Enabling Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approach for known and unknown environments based on visual and acoustic information.
  • Scalable Control: Enabling advanced control in complex environments.
  • Scalable Platforms: Enabling multi-vehicle solutions with homogeneous/heterogeneous platforms.

Those are key elements for the autonomy of marine robotics platforms to enable multi-vehicle operations.

Publications

Muñoz, B. and G. Troni. 2024. Learning the Ego-Motion of an Underwater Imaging Sonar: A Comparative Experimental Evaluation of Novel CNN and RCNN Approaches. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 9(3): 2072-2079. doi: 10.1109/LRA.2024.3352357

Wolfson-Schwehr, M., C. Paull, D.W. Caress, R. Gwiazda, N.M. Nieminski, P.J. Talling, C. Carvajal, S. Simmons, and G. Troni. 2023. Time-lapse seafloor surveys reveal how turbidity currents and internal tides in Monterey Canyon interact with the seabed at centimeter-scale. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 128(4): e2022JF006705. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JF006705

Katija, K., G. TroniJ. Daniels, K. Lance, R.E. Sherlock, A.D. Sherman, and B.H. Robison. 2020. Revealing enigmatic mucus structures in the deep sea using DeepPIV. Nature, 583: 78–82. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2345-2

Paduan, J.B., R.A. Zierenberg, D.A. Clague, R.M. Spelz, D.W. Caress, G. Troni, H. Thomas, J. Glessner, M.D. Lilley, T. Lorenson, J. Lupton, F. Neumann, M.A. Santa Rosa del Rio, and C.G. Wheat. 2018. Discovery of hydrothermal vent fields on Alarcón Rise and in Southern Pescadero Basin, Gulf of California. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 19: 4788–4819. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GC007771

Martin, E.J., D.W. Caress, H. Thomas, B. Hobson, R. Henthorn, M. Risi, C.K. Paull, J.P. Barry, and G. Troni. 2016. Enabling new techniques in environmental assessment through multi-sensor hydrography. Marine Technology Society / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Oceans Conference, 2016: 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/OCEANS.2016.7761487