Community Information
Links
MOOS-IvP is a set of open source C++ modules for providing autonomy on robotic platforms, in particular autonomous marine vehicles.
Project Objectives and Philosophy:
• Platform Independence: The MOOS-IvP software typically runs on a dedicated computer for autonomy and sensing in the vehicle “payload” section. This is referred to as the “Backseat Driver” paradigm. The vehicle manufacture provides a navigation and control system on the main vehicle computer, capable of streaming vehicle position and trajectory information to the payload computer, and accepting a stream of autonomy decisions such as heading, speed and depth in return. The primary benefits of this approach are (a) an autonomy software system that may be used nearly identically on platforms from several manufacturers, and (b) the decoupling of procurement decisions between the autonomy and sensing software and the decision of the platform hardware.
• Module Independence: MOOS and the IvP Helm provide two architectures that enable the autonomy and sensing system to be built from distinct and independent modules. MOOS is publish-and-subscribe middleware, and the IvP Helm is a behavior based architecture. The primary benefits of this approach are (a) the autonomy and sensing system may be comprised of modules (MOOS Apps and Helm Behaviors) from several organizations with minimal coordination, and (b) no module is sacred – one is free to take the best of the best modules as he or she sees fit.
• Nested Capabilities: The MOOS and IvP Helm architectures both allow a system to be readily extended without any modification to (or recompilation of) the core, publicly available free software. The primary benefit is that it is possible to develop a uniquely capable payload autonomy system augmented with software not available to one’s competition.
Project Organization:
The project is situated at MIT, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Center for Ocean Engineering as part of the Laboratory for Autonomous Marine Sensing Systems (LAMSS). Core developers are also part of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, (CSAIL). The core MOOS software is maintained and distributed by the Oxford Mobile Robotics Group (MRG).
MOOS stands for “Mission Oriented Operating Suite”. IvP stands for “Interval Programming”. MOOS-IvP is pronounced “moose i-v-p”.
Link: http://18.38.2.158/moos-ivp/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage
Best Practices Guide for AUV Polar Operations
Given the limited experience with AUVs in the polar environment, the consensus was that the site should be evolutionary. It was also agreed the site should contain a historical account of previous AUV missions in polar regions as well as articles and other documents that provide information and experience on the Arctic operation.
Link: http://www.srcf.ucam.org/polarauvguide/
Everyone’s Gliding Observatories
The EGO initiative is a gathering of several teams of oceanographers, interested in developing the use of gliders for ocean observations. The glider is a relatively new platform in oceanography, but one which has great potential thanks to its smart design. EGO was first composed of scientific teams from France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom and EGO stood for “European Gliding Observatories” for a while but it is now more appropriate to call it “Everyone’s Gliding Observatories”, while colleagues from Australia, Canada, and USA are joining this open community. This idea of a glider group emerged in October 2005 and since then, collaborations have been developing. Experiments with international fleets of gliders have been carried out and EGO Workshops (including “Glider Schools”) are organized every year to present and discuss both scientific and technological issues.
Link: http://www.ego-network.org/dokuwiki/doku.php
Marine Advanced Technology Education Center (MATE)
The MATE Center’s mission is to help prepare America’s future workforce for ocean-related occupations. The MATE Center utilizes information from employers to improve and develop educational programs with a focus on marine technology.
