Emerging opportunities in the exploration of inland water bodies, such as underwater mining of flooded open pit mines, require accurate real-time positioning of multiple underwater assets. In the mining operation scenarios, operational requirements deny the application of standard acoustic positioning techniques, posing additional challenges to the localization problem. This paper presents a novel underwater localization solution, implemented for the ¡VAMOS! project, based on the combination of raw measurements from a short baseline (SBL) array and an inverted ultrashort baseline (iUSBL). An extended Kalman filter (EKF), fusing IMU raw measurements, pressure observations, SBL ranges, and USBL directional angles, estimates the localization of an underwater mining vehicle in 6DOF. Sensor bias and the speed of sound in the water are estimated indirectly by the filter. Moreover, in order to discard acoustic outliers, due to multipath reflections in such a confined and cluttered space, a data association layer and a dynamic SBL master selection heuristic were implemented. To demonstrate the advantage of this new technique, results obtained in the field, during the ¡VAMOS! underwater mining field trials, are presented and discussed.

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) constitutes an effective and affordable solution to the outdoor positioning problem. When combined with precise positioning techniques, such as the real time kinematic (RTK), centimeter-level positioning accuracy becomes a reality. Such performance is suitable for a whole new range of demanding applications, including high-accuracy field robotics operations. The RTKRCV, part of the RTKLIB package, is one of the most popular open-source solutions for real-time GNSS precise positioning. Yet the lack of integration with the robot operating system (ROS), constitutes a limitation on its adoption by the robotics community. This article addresses this limitation, reporting a new implementation which brings the RTKRCV capabilities into ROS. New features, including ROS publishing and control over a ROS service, were introduced seamlessly, to ensure full compatibility with all original options. Additionally, a new observation synchronization scheme improves solution consistency, particularly relevant for the moving-baseline positioning mode. Real application examples are presented to demonstrate the advantages of our rtkrcv_ros package. For community benefit, the software was released as an open-source package.

This paper presents EVA, a new concept for an hybrid ROV/AUV designed to support the underwater operation of an underwater mining machine, developed in the context of the European H2020 R&D ¡VAMOS! Project. This project is briefly presented, introducing the main components and concepts, providing the reader with clear picture of the operational scenario and allowing to understand better the functionality requirements of the support robotic vehicle developed. The design of EVA is detailed presented, addressing the mechanical design, hardware architecture, sensor system and navigation and control. The results of EVA both in water test tank, in the !VAMOS! Field trials in Lee Moor, UK, and in an harbor scenario are presented and discussed.

This work presents a low cost RTK-GPS system for localization of unmanned surface vehicles. The system is based on the use of standard low cost L1 band receivers and in the RTKlib open source software library. Mission scenarios with multiple robotic vehicles are addressed as the ones envisioned in the ICARUS search and rescue case where the possibility of having a moving RTK base on a large USV and multiple smaller vehicles acting as rovers in a local communication network allows for local relative localization with high quality. The approach is validated in operational conditions with results presented for moving base scenario. The system was implemented in the SWIFT USV with the ROAZ autonomous surface vehicle acting as a moving base. This setup allows for the performing of a missions in a wider range of environments and applications such as precise 3D environment modeling in contained areas and multiple robot operations.

The project Viable Alternative Mine Operating System (¡VAMOS!) develops a novel underwater mining technique for extracting inland mineral deposits in flooded open-cut mines. From a floating launch and recovery vessel a remotely-operated underwater mining vehicle with a roadheader cutting machine is deployed. The cut material is transported to the surface via a flexible riser hose. Since there is no direct intervisibility between the operator and the mining machine, the data of the sensor systems can only be perceived via a computer interface. Therefore, part of the efforts in the project focus on enhancing the situational awareness of the operator by providing a 3D model of the mine combined with representations of the mining equipment and sensor data. We present a method how a positioning and navigation system, perception system and mapping system can be used to create a replica of the physical system and mine environment in Virtual Reality (VR) in order to assist remote control. This approach is beneficial because it allows visualizing different sensor information and data in a consistent interface, and enables showing the complete context of the mining site even if only part of the mine is currently observed by surveying equipment. We demonstrate how the system is used during tele-operation and show results achieved during the field trials of the complete system in Silvermines, Ireland.

Limited perception capabilities underwater shrink the envelope of effective localization techniques that can be applied in this environment. Long-term localization in six degrees of freedom can only be achieved by combining different sources of information. A multiple vehicle underwater localization solution, for localizing an underwater mining vehicle and its support vessel, is presented in this paper. The surface vessel carries a short baseline network, that interact with the inverted ultra-short baseline, carried by the underwater mining vehicle. A multiple antenna GNSS system provides data for localizing the surface vessel and to georeference the short baseline array. Localization of the mining vehicle results from a data fusion approach, that combines multiple sources of sensor information using the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) framework. The developed solutions were applied in the context of the ¡VAMOS! European project. Long-term real time position errors below 0.2 meters, for the underwater machine, and 0.02 meters, for the surface vessel, were accomplished in the field. All presented results are based on data acquired in a real scenario.