Navigating blindfolded
Since the 1970s, when early autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were developed at MIT, Institute scientists have tackled various barriers to robots that can travel autonomously in the deep ocean. This four-part series examines current MIT efforts to refine AUVs’ artificial intelligence, navigation, stability and tenacity.Imagine dropping an underwater vehicle into the ocean and having it survey the ocean floor for debris from an accident or examine a ship’s hull for signs of damage. Without any outside guidance or prior knowledge, the vehicle would traverse the target area in a methodical fashion, never repeating itself or going astray, all the while generating a map that shows the surface of interest.An MIT team has developed advanced mathematical techniques that enable such a scenario to occur — even when the area being examined is large, complex and cluttered, and the information coming from the vehicle’s sensors is not always...