Robohub.org
ep.

009

podcast
 

Swarming autonomous underwater vehicles with Navinda Kottege and Marc Sherman


by
26 September 2008



share this:

In this show we dive into the world of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with an emphasis on the challenges when having to localize and communicate in the deep blue. While Navinda Kottege at the Australian National University has been looking at how swarms of small Serafina AUVs can determine their range, bearing and posture with respect to neighboring robots, Marc Sherman from Teledyne RD Instruments tells us how his Doppler Velocity Log systems are used to provide positioning for slightly larger beasts.

For a more futuristic view on underwater swarms, we present the first episode of our Science Fiction Special written by Jack Graham in Cambridge, MA. The “Selkies” will be following us over the next four episodes so don’t miss today’s debut.

Finally, if you’re curious about last week’s Uncertain Roomba Competition, check our forum for the winner and the actual solution.

Navinda Kottege

Navinda Kottege is a research assistant at the Australian National University, and has spent the last few years working on an underwater localisation system for swarms of AUVs, in particular the Serafina Robot.


Navigating and communicating with neighbors underwater is a difficult task (unless you’re a fish), since there is no GPS, radio communication is very limited, and vision is essentially useless. Kottege explains the challenges they had to overcome to build swarms of Serafina robots, and some of the possible applications of their swarm once they’re roaming our oceans.

Also, don’t miss a past interview on Talking Robots with Uwe Zimmer who is at the head of the Serafina project.

Marc Sherman

Marc Sherman is the sales manager for navigation products at Teledyne RD Instruments, a big league supplier of Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), Waves Measurement Products, Doppler Velocity Logs (DVLs), and Flow Measurement Products for offshore vehicles. He presents the DVLs used for underwater localization of anything from divers to ships, with an emphasis on the smaller Explorer system. While not yet small enough to suit Kottege’s Sarafina AUVs, there is a clear interest to scale down, for shallow water applications in security and defense.

Selkies

Our special guest, science fiction writer Jack Graham in Cambridge MA, tells us about the “Selkies”, seal-like robots which in a world of waste, strive to clean up the oceans. With a unique view on robotics and the world, he’s been writing away on lonesomerobot.com with stories such as “arm” and “posthuman playground“. The future will tell, how SciFi will continue to nourish engineers and vice-versa.

Links:


Latest News:

Visit the Robots Forum for links and discussions about
Singapore’s TechX Challenge, Stanford’s free robotics and AI courses and the Mars Rover’s new 2-year trek presented in the podcast.

View and post comments on this episode in the forum



tags: ,


Podcast team The ROBOTS Podcast brings you the latest news and views in robotics through its bi-weekly interviews with leaders in the field.
Podcast team The ROBOTS Podcast brings you the latest news and views in robotics through its bi-weekly interviews with leaders in the field.





Related posts :



A flexible lens controlled by light-activated artificial muscles promises to let soft machines see

  30 Oct 2025
Researchers have designed an adaptive lens made of soft, light-responsive, tissue-like materials.

Social media round-up from #IROS2025

  27 Oct 2025
Take a look at what participants got up to at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

Using generative AI to diversify virtual training grounds for robots

  24 Oct 2025
New tool from MIT CSAIL creates realistic virtual kitchens and living rooms where simulated robots can interact with models of real-world objects, scaling up training data for robot foundation models.

Robot Talk Episode 130 – Robots learning from humans, with Chad Jenkins

  24 Oct 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Chad Jenkins from University of Michigan about how robots can learn from people and assist us in our daily lives.

Robot Talk at the Smart City Robotics Competition

  22 Oct 2025
In a special bonus episode of the podcast, Claire chatted to competitors, exhibitors, and attendees at the Smart City Robotics Competition in Milton Keynes.

Robot Talk Episode 129 – Automating museum experiments, with Yuen Ting Chan

  17 Oct 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Yuen Ting Chan from Natural History Museum about using robots to automate molecular biology experiments.

What’s coming up at #IROS2025?

  15 Oct 2025
Find out what the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems has in store.

From sea to space, this robot is on a roll

  13 Oct 2025
Graduate students in the aptly named "RAD Lab" are working to improve RoboBall, the robot in an airbag.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence