Autonomous Vehicle-Manipulator Systems?Intelligent Operation of Remotely Located Facilities

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The project aims at developing solutions for autonomous operation of distant fields using robotic manipulators mounted on a moving vehicle. More specifically, the project will study the potential of vehicle-manipulator systems when it comes to intelligent operation of remotely located fields that are not directly operated by humans. This may include subsea installations, operation in the arctic or antarctic, or operation in outer space. Firstly, modeling and control of vehicle-manipulator systems will b e addressed. This is a challenging topic due to the free-moving base and the formalism used for standard fixed-base manipulators cannot be applied directly. As a result a new set of control and motion planning algorithms that are designed especially for v ehicle-manipulator systems need to be developed. Secondly, the project aims at developing solutions for intelligent and autonomous operation of these fields when a human operator is not directly involved in the control. Using approaches from machine lea rning and artificial intelligence the project aims at developing new algorithms that are especially suited for vehicle-manipulator systems. These systems are special in the sense that they do not only allow for observation and monitoring of the process, b ut also actively intervening with the process. This requires a new set of algorithms that combine the observation/monitoring and the operation of the platform, including physically intervening with the process.