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SUMMER@LSTS 2020 – Introduction to Marine Robotics with applications to ocean observation, underwater archeology and ecosystems mapping

“Actually, this is more than a course. It is an experience in Marine Robotics“, João Tasso (LSTS FEUP)

The summer course on Marine Robotics is funded by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT) and organized by the Laboratório de Sistemas e Tecnologia Subaquática (LSTS) from the University of Porto and the AIR Centre. in cooperation with the H2020 EU Marine Robots Project, coordinated by LSTS.

The goal of the course is to provide a comprehensive overview of Marine Robotics with special focus on applications in ocean observation, underwater archeology and ecosystems mapping. There will be an equal emphasis on concepts and on practical applications. There will be 40 hours of lectures and 80 hours of a supervised research project. The course is simultaneously broad, providing a comprehensive overview of Marine Robotics, as well as deep, facilitating access to the open-source LSTS software tool chain and to the LSTS vehicles. The students are encouraged to make an impact in the area!

The syllabus includes: LSTS overview, robotic systems overview, models, sensors, communications, LSTS vehicles, LSTS tool chain, deliberative planning, planning and control systems, Atlantic journeys, introduction to underwater archeology, introduction to ocean observation, introduction to ecosystems mapping, and applications. More Information about the course will be soon posted.

Download here the introduction to the summer course.

Summer@LSTS 2020 program:

  1. August 7th, 2020, Explorations in AI for Maritime Robotics, Kanna Rajan, (LSTS FEUP).
  2. August 14th, 2020, PLOCAN: A dedicated infrastructure for autonomous ocean-vehicles base, Carlos Barrera (PLOCAN). Follow this link to watch the presentation on YouTube.
  3. August 20th, 1:00-2:00 PM UTC, Autonomous Marine Vehicles and their Applications in Operational Oceanography: Experience in Brazilian Waters, Leonardo Marques da Cruz (PROOCEANO). Follow this link to watch the presentation on YouTube.
  4. August 20th, 2:15-4:30 PM UTC (short interval by 3:30), Archaeology and Engineering, Fillipe Castro (Texas A&M University). Follow this link to watch the presentation on YouTube.
  5. August 21st, 2:30-3:30 PM UTC, Experiences using AUVs to do adaptive sampling and autonomy in the Arctic, Trygve Olav Fossum (NTNU). Follow this link to watch the presentation on YouTube.
  6. August 27th, 1:00 – 2:00 PM UTC, Autonomous Docking & Inspection Capabilities, Gerard Dooly (University of Limerick). Please register here for this session.
  7. August 27th 2:30-3:30 PM UTC, Katy Croff Bell (Founding Director, Open Ocean Initiative, MIT Media Lab and Fellow, National Geographic Society). Please follow this link to watch the presentation on YouTube..
  8. August 28th, 9:00-10:15 AM UTC, Eliana Silva Pereira (member of the Law of the Sea Research Group, CIIMAR). Please register here for this session.

We will soon post more information about the next sessions.

Stay tuned.

If you need any additional information please send an email to Jose Luiz Moutinho.

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CLASSES

Summer@LSTS 2020

Eliana Silva Pereira

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Session #8 with Eliana Silva Pereira (CIIMAR)

Summer@LSTS 2020 will continue on August 28th, 2020, 9:00-10:15 PM UTC, with Eliana Silva Pereira, who will present An Introduction to the Legal Regime of “Marine Robotics”. The purpose of the presentation is to provide an overview of the legal regime that applies to “marine robotics”. It starts clarifying the terminology used for legal purposes and explaining the relevance of maritime zones provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Afterward, it focuses on the powers of the coastal states and the flag states to define and approve the legal regime of “marine robotics” for different activities carried out in areas under national sovereignty and jurisdiction. The presentation ends, providing insights both on the international and the national legal regime that applies to “marine robotics” when used on marine scientific research, archaeology, and law enforcement activities. Eliana Silva Pereira is a member of the Law of the Sea Research Group at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto. Eliana holds a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Development and Diplomacy and a Master’s Degree in Law and attended the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law & Policy and the Yeosu Academy on the Law of the Sea.
August 27, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho
Katy Croff Bell

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Session #7 with Katy Croff Bell (MIT Media Lab)

Summer@LSTS 2020 will continue on August 27th, 2020, 2:30-3:30 PM UTC, with Katy Croff Bell, who presented Deep Sea Exploration: Past + Present + Future. Dr. Katy Croff Bell is a deep sea explorer with a background in ocean engineering, maritime archaeology, and geological oceanography, and has led dozens of expeditions around the world. Bell is passionate about developing new ways to better understand the ocean and and make it more accessible to everyone around the world. Currently, she is the Founding Director of the Open Ocean Initiative at the MIT Media Lab and a Fellow at the National Geographic Society, developing programs for low-cost, distributed deployment of new and emerging technologies for ocean exploration and community building. Previously, as Executive Vice President of the Ocean Exploration Trust, Bell led the development of exploration, research, and educational outreach activities for E/V Nautilus, including management of scientists, engineers, educators, and students from 30+ countries working together to conduct telepresence-enabled expeditions around the world.
August 26, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho
Gerard Dooly

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Session #6 with Gerard Dooly (University of Limerick)

Summer@LSTS 2020 continued on August 27th, 2020, 1:00-2:00 PM UTC, with Gerard Dooly, who will present Autonomous Control & Inspection Capabilities for Complex Sites. Operation of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) in the commercial sector are generally undertaken through manual control with significant dependence on pilot skill and with video feedback from onboard camera systems. These systems and mode of operation was developed for the oil & gas industries and may not be fully suited other applications such as offshore wind and other difficult environments. The progression towards more autonomy in the ROV sector offers larger operational windows as well as other safety and cost benefits. The University of Limerick has developed autonomous systems to address this technical gap and presents solutions though interfaces onto a commercial light work-class ROV, the MRE-ROV. This talk centers around the first year of operations for the UL MRE-ROV and discusses the technological developments ongoing within the UL research lab. The discussion also centers on technologies for resident robotics systems such as autonomous intervention, live 3D reconstructions, autonomous docking and advanced imaging systems. Test results are from ship based operations off the Irish coast on a number of sites varying from Shipwreck to Coral Grounds and Oil & Gas infrastructure.
August 26, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho
Trygve Olav Fossum

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Session #5 with Trygve Olav Fossum (NTNU)

Summer@LSTS 2020 continued on August 21st, 2020, 2:30-3:30 PM UTC, with Trygve Olav Fossum, who will discuss his "Experiences using AUVs to do adaptive sampling and autonomy in the Arctic. The climate is changing fast, especially in the Arctic Ocean where sea-ice extent continues to decease. Understanding the effects of the changing climate on the fragile Arctic ecosystem is of utmost importance, as changes in sea-ice cover will have direct consequences on the ecosystem. Over a number of cruises and projects AUVs have been deployed to gather relevant and important scientific information in this regard. The talk will focus on practical aspects of doing AUV operations in the Arctic, as well as the approaches explored for doing autonomous mission planning and execution in this harsh environment.
August 16, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho
Filipe Castro

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Session #4 with Filipe Castro (Texas A&M University)

On August 20th, 2020, 2:15-4:30 PM UTC (short interval by 3:30), Summer@LSTS 2020 had Filipe Castro, who gave a lecture on Archaeology and Engineering. Archaeologists study and try to reconstruct past human activity based on the material remains left behind. To interpret and reconstruct habitats, ships, or even small artifacts, archaeologists look at similar behaviors or artifacts or settling patterns of live cultures around the globe, in order to try to understand the contexts they are studying. Because of that, in many countries around the world archaeology is a sub-discipline of anthropology, not history, as it is in Europe. In any event, archaeologists are anthropologists, because they study the human adventure, which is the very definition of anthropology. But excavating is a very destructive activity. This session is about some of the applications of engineering that are extremely useful to archaeologists.
August 16, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho
Leonardo Marques da Cruz

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Class #3 with Leonardo Marques da Cruz (PROOCEANO)

Summer@LSTS 2020 continued on August 20th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, with Leonardo Marques da Cruz, who presented "Autonomous Marine Vehicles and their Applications in Operational Oceanography: Experience in Brazilian Waters." Leonardo Cruz is an oceanographer graduated from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). He has a Master's degree in Civil Engineering from COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in the area of ​​Computational Modeling in Environmental Engineering and a PhD student on Ocean Engineering at COPPE/UFRJ. Leonardo is one of the founding partners of PROOCEANO and currently he is one of the company's directors.
August 16, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Class #2 with Carlos Barrera (PLOCAN)

Summer@LSTS 2020 - Course on Introduction to Marine Robotics with applications to ocean observation, underwater archeology and ecosystems mapping - continued on August 14th, 2020, 10:30-11:30 AM UTC, with Carlos Barrera, who presented PLOCAN: A dedicated infrastructure for autonomous ocean-vehicles base. Carlos Barrera is the Head of the Ocean Vehicles Unit (VIMAS) at PLOCAN since 2009. He is responsible for the technical and operational tasks and time-shared desk activities related to R&D project coordination, ocean governance initiatives and services management. Carlos holds a degree in Oceanography (1998) by University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). He has twenty five years-experience in marine technology with focus on autonomous ocean observing platforms, over a five-hundred field operations on research vessels, sixty international research projects joined, eighty international publications and two patents related to ocean observing systems.
August 11, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho

Summer@LSTS 2020 – Session #1 with Kanna Rajan (LSTS FEUP)

Summer@LSTS 2020 started on August 7th, 2020, 2:00-3:30 PM UTC, with Kanna Rajan, who presented Explorations in AI for Maritime Robotics. Kanna Rajan is a Visiting Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Univ. of Porto affiliated with the Underwater Systems Technology Lab. He was the Principal Researcher in Autonomy at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (http://www.mbari.org) a privately funded non-profit Oceanographic institute which he joined in October 2005. Prior to that he was a Senior Research Scientist for the Autonomous Systems and Robotics Area at NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California.
August 8, 2020/by Jose Luiz Moutinho