Teleprogramming to perform sophisticated underwater manipulative tasks using acoustic communications

In this paper we describe preliminary in-air testing of the teleprogramming system. By way of example we describe the task of bolting/unbolting a hatch cover. The position of the cover was known only approximately and all communication between the operator and remote sites occurred via a simulated acoustic link. No visual feedback from the remote site was available. The operator interaction required to command the remote robot for this task is discussed and the mechanism for detecting, diagnosing and recovering from errors is presented. It is observed that, while operators may successfully complete this task, it takes too long to recover from errors. Current research is aimed at improving performance by providing additional visual information to the operator and migrating this test system to a real subsea implementation