Monitoring Underwater Operations with Virtual Environments

摘要

This paper introduces a new set of software tools that integraternnear-real-time visualization with a publish-and-subscribernmechanism to achieve remote monitoring and control ofrndynamic objects in an underwater scene. The approachrnproposed in this paper involves the integration of existingrntechnologies to produce a powerful and flexible solution easilyrnadapted to the extensive and diverse set of situationsrnencountered in underwater construction, underwaterrnsurveying, and maritime navigation. Users can definernelaborate virtual scenes that can accurately represent all thernrelevant elements associated with an underwater constructionrnjob, including complex structures and dynamic objects, suchrnas ROVs, vessels, etc. Real-time data from instruments andrnpositioning sensors is made available by using a publishingrnmechanism and a remote data server. Users with Internet orrnintranet access can subscribe to any real-time data field beingrnpublished and receive updates each time the informationrnchanges, allowing them to monitor and log the events of thernunderwater job at the same time they are taking place.rnThe use of advanced cueing techniques and multi-resolutionrnrendering make it possible to achieve interactive frame ratesrnwithout sacrificing accuracy and realism. The concept of 3Drnmodules will also be introduced. These powerful modules canrnbe linked to live data and attached to any element in the virtualrnenvironment including dynamic ones. This flexibility allowsrnthe users to monitor the data, not only as it changes, but alsornwithin the spatial context that makes the most sense. Thisrnpaper focuses on the visualization components of the proposedrnsolution, while providing a general description of the otherrntwo components (data acquisition, data distribution), andrndescribes the Ehime Maru recovery mission as an example ofrnan underwater job that benefited by using this technology.