Development of a Robotic Limb for Underwater Mobile Manipulation

This paper presents the hardware design and development of the AquaSimian limb, a 7 degree of freedom robotic limb for performing manipulation tasks typical to the subsea servicing industry. Tasks are performed through a supervised autonomy framework that makes efficient use of operator input, 3D scene reconstructions, automated motion planning, and parameterized behaviors. The limb must robustly interact with its environment to perform tasks such as turning a subsea valve or inserting a hot stab. The limb features high power density actuators and a 6 degree of freedom force torque sensor. A custom 3-function robotic gripper mounted to the force torque sensor allows dexterous yet robust interaction with underwater task panels. The system includes capabilities to detect and autonomously respond to any leaks or motor faults by disconnecting motor power when the system is in an off-nominal state and notifying the operator through LED lighting on the Light Lids that seal the actuator assembly housings. This highly capable robotic limb serves as a testbed for JPL development of technologies for autonomous operation of mobile manipulation systems.