Internet mission control of the ROMEO unmanned underwater vehicle using the CORAL mission controller

This paper addresses the problem of mission control of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) through the Internet. Its main focus is on the integration of a Petri Net based mission control system developed by the Istituto Superior Tecnico using the CORAL environment, with the control system of ROMEO, a prototype ROV developed by the Robotics Department of CNR-IAN. The system has been evaluated when controlling ROMEO's missions directly from Lisbon in the underwater virtual world (UVW) in the IAN lab and in a pool in Genoa. In particular, the reliability of the Internet connection has been verified and the constraints introduced by communication delays have been examined. This research and development effort aims at contributing to the development of reliable mission control systems for the operation of robotic ocean vehicles at a distance, over communication channels that may experience considerable delays. This is a subject of great relevance, in view of the widespread interest in the development of systems to allow a scientific end-user to program, execute, and follow the state of progress of robotic vehicle missions at sea from the comfort of his/her laboratory.