Low cost optronic obstacle detection sensor for unmanned surface vehicles

The need for technological transfer of robotic technology, already available and well established at research level, is now a major issue for the robotic community in order to address applications within civilian scenarios. In particular, concerning the marine and maritime context, safe and highly reliable navigation guidance and control (NGC) systems are strongly required to perform autonomous and critical operations with unmanned robots. To this aim, a very sensitive issue is represented by collision avoidance systems that have to be smart enough to reactively detect unexpected obstacles and perform the necessary avoidance manoeuvres to safely prevent collisions. The present paper proposes a highly innovative obstacle detection sensor, combining both passive and active optical devices and based on a new concept of optronic system. It is specifically conceived for collision avoidance tasks in marine environments, designed to be easily mounted on small-medium sized USVs (Unmanned Surface Vehicles). Its innovation consists in the interaction between the different integrated sensors, that are in fact totally decoupled. Preliminary experimental data collected by the sensor are reported, together with some simulations that highlight the ability of the system to detect and correctly avoid both still obstacles and mobile traversing obstacles.