[CCoE Notice] Cullen College Dissertation Defense Announcement-Javier Garcia Gonzalez (ECE)

[Hutchinson, Inez A]

[Dissertation Defense Announcement at the Cullen College of Engineering]
Magnetic Based Methods for Underwater Localization and Navigation
Javier Garcia Gonzalez

December 1, 2023; 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (CST)
Location: ECE Conference Room, Eng Bldg 1

Committee Chair:

Aaron T. Becker, Ph.D.

Committee Members:

Miao Pan, Ph.D. | Jiefu Chen, Ph.D. | Zheng Chen, Ph.D. | Julien Leclerc, Ph.D.

Abstract

Underwater robotics is a rapidly expanding field with many important applications. From exploration and maintenance of oil and gas installations, to search and rescue, to defense, the use of robotic agents has become desirable for efficiency and safety reasons. However, performing tasks with only one agent usually necessitates an increase in size and complexity, which in turn exacerbates the power requirements that can drastically reduce run times. For that reason, dividing tasks between a group of agents, a robotic swarm, is a proposition we wish to pursue. The work on this project focused on the practical implementation of underwater localization and navigation. In order for robotic agents to cooperate and efficiently work together, they must be able to efficiently locate each other and communicate.

While many technologies have been employed for communication in underwater environments, they have drawbacks that we try to address through the use of magnetic induction (MI) communications. The first part of this dissertation focuses on implementing MI so different agents, with very limited prior knowledge of the swarm, can find each other and communicate at short distances, where collision between agents is most probable. The theoretical basis and validation, as well as hardware design and implementation are covered.

The use of magnetics to find ferrous objects underwater is presented in the second part. This is important for inspection and maintenance tasks, as it can complement vision-based methods in finding structures in waters with low visibility or even partially covered by the ocean floor, as well as for navigating around said structures.

[Engineered For What's Next]


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