Adapting Whisker Sensors to Deep Sea Environment For Ocean One Robot

Stanford’s Ocean One robot has been paving the way in human robot collaboration and underwater archaeology. The humanoid form factor of this scuba diving robot makes it so humans can easily control it remotely to perform fine manipulation with its 3 fingered hands. Currently, Ocean One’s wrists measure forces and torque and convey it back to the user using haptic feedback. It may seem strange to send a robot in place of a human, but explorations, such as Ocean One’s exploration of King Louis XIV’s sunken ship (La Lune), require diving 100 meters below. While humans can technically dive to 100 meters, these are dangerous depths for humans due to factors like the pressure, so 40 meters is the recreational diving limit. Therefore, Ocean One makes going deeper much safer, while still allowing human-like interaction with the environment.

Similarly to human scuba divers, the Oceans One robot has an Achilles heel. While exploring uncharted underwater territories, it could get hooked on a piece of ship wreckage. Even for a human, it can be difficult to unhook oneself, but it is even harder for the Oceans One robot since it does not yet have integrated sensors signaling how it is caught. Without sensors, it is difficult to convey what is stuck, further complicating the job for remote teammates helping it break free.

Adding sensors could not only make it easier for the robot to stay clear and get out of tangles, but it could also provide helpful information on currents and surroundings. Sensors on the arms would provide helpful feedback on obstacles for Ocean One to avoid before getting caught at its shoulders. My first quarter of research involved defining sensor requirements, looking at various sensor possibilities, and narrowing the scope to whisker sensors. My second quarter involved developing code to filter ocean noise. My final quarter involved adapting the existing whisker sensors to high pressure underwater conditions. After testing against sensor requirements, I concluded that sensitivity, robustness, and resolution of the whisker sensor, make it a promising option to improve the Ocean One’s safety and sensing as it navigates cluttered underwater environments.

My project highlights the potential of underwater whisker sensors to address the issue of sensing objects before getting caught and ultimately extend the lifespan of the Ocean One Robot.