Study track 1 – UJI

Why become an expert in Applied robotics for underwater intervention missions?

From an underwater intervention viewpoint, the main application domains of these technologies, under development, are dealing with offshore industry, marine defence, scientific research, and aquaculture. However, there is a fast-growing demand, in all these areas, for engineers with expertise in underwater intervention systems. The latter have only recently come to the fore and aim to endow underwater robots with the capability to interact with the environment using manipulators, thus paving the way for the development of advanced systems for close-range underwater infrastructures inspection and maintenance as well as materials sampling. These issues are simply not covered in the curricula of current degrees in Europe.

A summary of the main topics at the cores of these technologies covered by Study Track 1 include: 

Autonomous underwater vehicles for Intervention (I-AUV’s); Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV’s); Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV’s); Field Robotics; Multisensory based manipulation algorithms; Localization; Guidance, navigation and control; Cooperative control architectures; Acoustic/optical image processing algorithms; Multimodal map building algorithms; SLAM techniques; Underwater mechatronics; Human-Robot Interaction (HRI); Underwater Simulators; Underwater Wireless Communication; Deep Learning.

Applied robotics for underwater intervention missions study track specific learning outcomes include qualifying Master students to:

1. Identify the key functionalities (i.e. navigation, manipulation, perception, planning, decision-making, HRI, wireless communications and so on) inherent to underwater intervention missions in real life scenarios (e.g. Offshore Industry, Marine Sciences, Search and Rescue, Archaeology, Aquaculture, etc.).
2. Comprehend all the complexities associated with the mechatronics underlying an I-AUV – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention.
3. Understand the main differences between ROVs and I-AUVs, not only from a theoretical viewpoint, but also by testing both kind of intervention systems, in real conditions, identifying the application scopes, advantages and limitations underlying these coexistent technologies.