Bioinspired Legged Underwater robots for Ecological monitoring and Exploration

A deeper understanding of marine ecosystems is crucial to enforce protective actions and promote a sustainable exploitation of the oceans’ resources. Adequate spatial and temporal coverage of data can be obtained by resorting to a network of fixed and mobile platforms to combine the advantages of different types of units. Existing mobile platforms, such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and seabed crawlers, present intrinsic limitations when operating in the benthic environment which can be overcome by underwater legged robots (ULRs). ULRs, with arthropod-like versatile locomotion, are not much affected by currents, drain little power while keeping a fixed position, exhibit a gentler interaction with the seabed and produce a lower acoustic signature in comparison with propeller driven vehicles. The BluE project aims at bringing the advantages of bioinspired ULRs in ecological monitoring applications by combining their capabilities with those of fixed and mobile platforms. This aim will be pursued by (1) demonstrating tethered integration of a bioinspired ULR with a fixed monitoring platform (i.e., underwater cabled observatory) to perform visual census of the ictic community, and by (2) implementing a collaboration between a bioinspired ULR and an AUV to demonstrate obstacle free navigation. To undertake this research, I will join the Marine Science Institute of the Spanish National Research Council, world’s expert in the ecology of the Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, I will carry out two secondments at the University of Girona and at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia to receive training on mobile and fixed monitoring platforms and gain access to unique facilities such as the AUV Girona500 and the OBSEA cabled observatory. This project will contribute to the development of new tools for underwater operations with potential impact in scientific and commercial sectors and will establish the proponent as a prominent researcher in underwater robotics.