Underwater Human Robot Interaction (U-HRI): An overview of the history, challenges, and methods
Underwater robotics requires very reliable and safe operations. This holds especially for missions in cooperation with divers who are – despite the significant advancements of marine robotics in recent years – still essential for many underwater operations. Possible application cases of underwater human-robot collaboration include marine science, archeology, oil- and gas production (OGP), handling of unexploded ordnance (UXO), e.g., from WWII ammunition dumped in the seas, or inspection and maintenance of marine infrastructure like pipelines, harbors, or renewable energy installations – to name just a few examples. There is accordingly research in Underwater Human Robot Interaction (U-HRI) since many years. A survey of the different research activities in this field is presented that gives an overview of the history, challenges, and methods in this area.