RE2, Inc. proposes to develop the Underwater Dual Manipulator Inflatable (UDMI), a low-cost inflatable manipulator to assist Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Divers in dismantling underwater IEDs and mines using unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The UDMI will enable the deployment of cost-effective and reliable manipulation systems for UUVs and will bring the stand-off capabilities that unmanned ground vehicles have brought to EOD technicians operating on land. The UDMI will have many advantages over rigid hydraulic or electro-mechanical manipulation systems. It will stow compactly before use, reducing hydrodynamic drag and its impact on mission duration during procedures such as an autonomous hull search for foreign devices. The inflatable UDMI will also possess natural compliance that will allow the system to passively deform if the manipulator strikes an object due to changing currents. Our proposed design, though, will provide greater stiffness than typical inflatable robots to enable higher precision manipulation for EOD tasks. Lastly, the UDMI will more closely mimic human arm kinematics than has been previously demonstrated with fluidic actuators, improving manipulability and mission success using unmanned systems underwater. By providing a low-cost, inflatable, manipulation solution, the UDMI will enable the improved CONOPS and safer operation for underwater EOD.
Benefit: Currently fielded UUVs for the US Navy are focused on search tasks rather than inspection and neutralization. The UDMI is intended to introduce unmanned device neutralization to the ship hull inspection task, increasing the usefulness of hovering UUVs and accelerating their eventual acceptance and deployment in the US Navy. The addition of a manipulator will significantly enhance the UUVs capabilities by enabling EOD personnel to remotely remove and/or neutralize mines and IEDs and to investigate obscured regions to expose hidden objects, thereby dramatically improving the safety of divers working in Underwater EOD by reducing their exposure to danger. The UDMI could also be used for ship and infrastructure inspections by domestic law enforcement and the US Coast Guard; searching through marine growth or clutter; or to dig in sediment to more clearly expose both potential threats and items of interest. The last two uses could be of interest to law enforcement as well as commercial entities such as the oil and gas industry and salvage diving.
Keywords: compliant manipulators, compliant manipulators, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Robotics, unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), pneumatic actuators, Inflatable robots, Hydraulic actuators
