Towards Advancing Diver-Robot Interaction Capabilities

The underwater environment is hazardous for humans since they are dependent on technical equipment for life support, have limited navigation and communication capabilities with the surface, and the underwater environment is under the constant influence of external environmental disturbances. The paper presents the effort during the initial six months of the “Advancing Diver-Robot Interaction Capabilities (ADRIATIC)” project. This project builds upon recent research accomplishments in the area of underwater human-robot interaction. Main efforts are geared towards developing sonar processing algorithms for improved diver recognition and tracking, creating new wearable sensors for increasing diver safety and robust gesture recognition, and developing collaborative motion strategies for improved diver-robot interaction.