ROBERT HUMMEL

These rafts, like the Autonomous Kayaks, are designed as a platform for research in multi‑vehicle marine autonomy. The rafts are smaller than the kayaks, and better suited for indoor experiments.

The testing tank is equipped with an overhead camera that tracks the vehicles with sub-centimeter accuracy.

The rafts can be used for various research objectives, such as underwater acoustic networking, cooperative control, and adaptive deployment of heterogeneous sensor platforms.

The raft fleet complements that of the kayaks – the rafts offer rapid model validation in the indoor test tank, while the kayaks provide a platform for full-scale ocean experiments.

For more information:

• Chapter 2: Robert Hummel, Infrastructure for Large-Scale Tests in Marine Autonomy, Master's Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011. (Full Text, PDF)