Sonar-Aided Manipulation in Low-Visibility Conditions by Novice Users

Underwater intervention tasks in the deep ocean are typically completed with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) equipped with robotic manipulator arms, and rely on optical-based perception of the scene to guide the manipulation tasks. However, the performance of optical sensors is highly degraded in turbid water conditions, which can arise from a variety of causes. This work investigates the use of an imaging sonar and doppler velocity log mounted on the wrist of a manipulator for close-range scene mapping to aid in underwater intervention. We integrate this sonar-based perception method with a shared autonomy framework to facilitate safe intervention tasks by users without ROV piloting experience in turbid environments, and conduct experiments to validate our system.