OPTIHROV: Optically Linked Hybrid Autonomous/Remotely Operated Vehicle, Beyond Teleoperation in a New Generation of Underwater Intervention Vehicles

OPTIHROV is a proof-of-concept project to demonstrate a telerobotic system, based on an untethered, OPTIcally-connected, Hybrid Autonomous-ROV, that aims to replace light intervention ROVs operating at close range to networked infrastructures. The system is designed to bridge the gap between current ROVs, tethered to a Docking Station, and the dream of the future Intervention Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (I-AUV). OPTIHROV is a telerobotic system to perform inspection and light intervention tasks in potentially unknown and unstructured environments. It uses human-robot interaction (HRI) methods that allow the user to remotely guide the robot by launching a set of sensory-motion primitives performed by the robot autonomously.This paper presents a proof of concept demonstration of the OPTIHROV concept, where the wireless Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV), located in the test tank of the Universitat de Girona (UdG), is controlled/supervised from the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) in Castelló de la Plana, about 330 km away.