Civil infrastructure is aging in many industrialized countries around the world. Autonomous monitoring of existing civil and industrial structures is of growing interest, as it has the potential to reduce cost for maintenance and repairs drastically, replace tedious, time-consuming and error-prone manual inspections, and allows to detect damage long before the human eye can. Especially in large structures, wireless sensor networks are preferable, as the deployment of cable-bound solutions is very costly. However, communicating with wireless sensors is challenging in many environments, as conventional communication techniques rely on electromagnetic waves, which cannot penetrate metal boundaries, e.g. if sensors are embedded within the structure. Furthermore, powering such devices with batteries requires regular battery replacements, which are costly when sensor nodes are in hard-to-reach places. Wireless power transfer is therefore an attractive solution to power sensor nodes in closed metal containers, such as pressure tanks or pipelines.

For very long time, swarms of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) were economically prohibitive and mostly used for offshore missions. With smaller and cheaper AUVs developed in the past decade, the utilization of swarms of AUVs has become an emerging topic in underwater research and civil applications. For example, AUVs swarms can be used for exploration and monitoring in shallow water environments, such as ports, harbors and fisheries. Compared to a single AUV, AUV swarms address the issues of limited energy budget and covering of area, insufficient sensing capabilities, while offering reduced operation time required and collaborative decision-making abilities. Nevertheless, due to the absence of satellite navigation, underwater localization is still a major technical difficulty for swarms of AUVs. Acoustic localization is the canocial way of performing underwater localization which enables the widest range coverage. The high cost of commercial underwater acoustic localization solutions, however, is non-negligible for large-sized swarms, which imposes a need for cost-saving alternatives with affordable devices. In this context, new cost-effective underwater localization strategies need to be developed for swarm vehicles in a scalable manner.

Der Klimawandel verändert Lebensbedingungen von Tierpopulationen drastisch. Insbesondere bedrohte Fischarten leiden unter Hitzewellen und sauerstoffarmen Bereichen unter Wasser. Um die konkreten Folgen des Klimawandels auf Fische zu erfassen, untersuchen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler an der Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW) gemeinsam mit der Technischen Universität Hamburg (TUHH) sowie der Universität Hamburg (UHH) das Verhaltensmuster von Fischschwärmen mit Hilfe von autonomen Tauchrobotern. Die Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Gleichstellung (BWFG) fördert das interdisziplinäre Verbundprojekt „Autonome Tauchroboter-gestützte Beobachtung von Fischschwärmen“ im Rahmen der Landesforschungsförderung Hamburg mit 1,25 Millionen Euro auf bis zu dreieinhalb Jahre. Die Temperatur der Weltmeere steigt stetig. Während der Temperaturdurchschnitt der weltweiten Meeresoberflächentemperatur im Jahr 1980 bei minus 0.04 Grad lag, zeigen die Messungen 2018 bereits einen Wert von plus 0.66 Grad Celsius. Neueste Studien geben an, dass in den letzten Jahrzehnten die Erwärmung zu einem Verlust an Fischereiertrag von bis zu 35 Prozent geführt hat. Prognosen zeigen, dass die Biomasse der Fischpopulationen künftig mit jedem Grad Erwärmung um durchschnittlich 5 Prozent abnehmen wird. Mit diesen extremen Entwicklungen haben insbesondere bedrohte Fischarten, wie beispielsweise Kabeljau und Hering zu kämpfen. Die klimatischen Veränderungen zwingen Fischschwärme dazu ihr Migrations- und Verhaltensmuster zu verändern. Was das beispielsweise für die Futtersuche oder die Fortpflanzung der Fischarten bedeutet, wollen die Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler des Verbundprojekts mit Hilfe von autonomen Tauchrobotern in küstennahen Gebieten von Nord- und Ostsee erforschen. Dazu entwickelt das Forscherteam Methoden, Konzepte und Algorithmen für kleine, kompakte und wendige Tauchroboter. Damit ist es, im Gegensatz zu herkömmlichen Untersuchungsmethoden auf Forschungsschiffen, erstmalig möglich Fischschwärme in flachen Gewässern und in Küstennähe zu beobachten. Ähnlich einer ferngesteuerten Flugdrohne, sollen die Roboter Fischschwärme unter Wasser aufspüren und begleiten. Akustische Lokalisations- und Kommunikationsverfahren ermöglichen dabei die Abstimmung der einzelnen Roboter untereinander, die dann koordiniert Messdaten über das Fischverhalten sammeln und lokal auswerten. Das Ziel ist es aus den gesammelten Messdaten noch unbekannte Konsequenzen des Klimawandels auf bedrohte Fischarten vorhersagen zu können, um konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen für den Klimaschutz zu geben.

The overarching goal of a swarm, regardless of whether it is an agent, robot or animal, is to survive together. In the case of autonomous underwater vehicles, this means that none of the robots should fail in terms of energy storage. If the energy storage, i.e. a battery, is empty, the robot is switched off, sinks into the water and is unlikely to be found again - the overall goal is missed. To ensure that the swarm can operate autonomously for as long as possible, ongoing research will focus on energy-aware cooperation between individuals in the swarm to extend the life of all devices and minimize failures. To achieve these goals, we will implement intelligent mission management algorithms that allow the swarm to make independent and autonomous decisions. To this end, we will create a simulation environment to test the algorithms and validate the expected results. In the simulation we can choose different load models for the power consumption and different swarm sizes. For the simulation environment, different mathematical models, i.e. the energy storage and the individual consumers, have to be created and identified using real measurement data. Proof-of-concept experiments with a limited number of underwater vehicles will be used to validate the simulation results. As a result, the algorithms for intelligent mission management need to be implemented in such a way that they can cope with all the uncertainties of a real-world environment that could not be modelled.

Motivation Vibro-acoustic modulation (VAM) is a promising novel method for non-destructive testing for fractures and fatigue of a variety of materials using ultrasound. Similar to a long-term ECG for a human, continuous and detailed monitoring of the "structural health" of civil infrastructure can detect small defects—so called micro-fissures—early; i.e., even before macroscopic and visual damage such as cracks evolves. It is hence possible to increase safety while also drastically reducing the cost of maintenance and prolonging the lifetime. By collaboration of researches from the domains of material science, computer science, and electrical engineering, continuous monitoring can be achieved effectively, using tiny sensors, The latter periodically produce an acoustic signal at one location and record and analyze the received signal at a different location in the same structural element. With recent progress in exploiting environmental energy sources such as solar or vibration for miniature sensing devices—equipped with wireless communication devices to transmit their measurements—setup and maintenance costs of such monitoring systems are drastically reduced. Meanwhile, non-invasive and facile sensor installation is achieved. Goals and Contributions A collaboration of the Institute of Polymer and Composites, the Institute for Metal and Composite Structures and the Institute smartPORT at Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) will carry out research in multiple fields to work towards the cost effective, custom monitoring solution described above. The goals include gaining new insights into the VAM method and the initiation of cracks in general as well as automated investigation of the sensor results using artificial intelligence technologies. The focus of the institute smartPORT embraces research and methods and algorithms for energy-autarkic sensing and data preprocessing and the development of a wireless, low-cost and self-sustained embedded prototype. In particular, research challenges are reliable computing while tolerating of fluctuating power supply from energy harvesting (transient computing) and synchronization of such sensor nodes for simultaneous measurements in order to not identify but also localize defects.

Motivation The protection of waters and port areas is monitored by local authorities. Essential tasks encompass disaster management and the initiation of immediate countermeasures; e.g., after accidents with toxic chemicals that pose a harm for the public (contamination of drinking water etc.). Due to their high cost, manual measurements and diver operation are only triggered and conducted upon a concrete threat or suspicion. Automatic measurements by small, inexpensive and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have the potential to eliminate this deficiency. They hence contribute essentially to public safety and the protection of action forces in case of an emergency or disaster. Goals and Contributions The principal goals of the project are the conception and research of a technical system of a swarm of small, agile, and inexpensive underwater vehicles equipped with task-specific sensors; e.g., to detect oil or toxic chemicals in the water body. For this purpose, three main contributions are made by the project partners. Firstly, novel und unique miniature sensors are developed. Secondly, swarm behavior and intelligent task planning and execution algorithsm are proposed and researched. Thirdly, underwater communication and localization methods and algorithms are devised and investigated. Within the project, we will also develop a function demonstrator for experiments in the Hamburg Port basins and inshore waters. Innovations and Perspectives The investigated system is --- due its easy handling, mobility, flexibility and its samrt precision sensors --- highly innovative. The combination of swarm behavior and underwater self-localization based on inexpensive hardware is an unique selling point and promises pivotal research results.Due to the involvement of local authorities of the city of Hamburg (dt., Behörde für Umwelt und Energie der Stadt Hamburg), the system will already fulfill market requirements. The system will also be suitable for application in limnic waters at dams and automatic depth tracking of waterways. Kooperationen: Sea&Sun Technology GmbH, TrappenkampUniversität zu Lübeck, Institut für Technische Informatik

Motivation Continued increase in levels of automation and digitization in all industry sectors constantly improves technological efficiency. Today, waterborne is the largest international transport sector with 90% of transported goods. Globalization and new environmental legislations lead to a rising need for new technological developments for the shipping industry. The global vision of Shipping 4.0 includes integrated smart embedded systems with a high level of autonomy, cloud computing, big data analytics and mobile services. Various initiatives are driving the development of such cyber-physical systems (which already exist in the automotive, aeronautic and manufacturing industry) for the shipping industry to create smart ports/waterways. Another promising technological trend is to offer software, platforms or infrastructure as-a-Service, which allows users to save money, be flexible and always have access to the latest technology. The RoboVaaS Robotic Vessels as-a-Service concept combines these approaches to revolutionize shipping related near-shore operations. Goals and Contributions Such a system consists of both surface and underwater vessels to fulfill tasks such as hull inspections, asset monitoring, and data collection. Submerged devices are envisioned to be autonomous with wireless communication and localization facilities in order to report measurements and receive instructions from the management service. Unfortunately, radio communication does not work underwater in general, so that acoustic communication is the method of choice. Here, a particular focus lies on inexpensive devices (both robots and communication) in order to achieve a feasible and affordable system. For this purpose, the smartPORT research group develops light-weight and resilient communication algorithms that will be evaluated through simulation and field-tests with a self-developed, inexpensive, and low-power acoustic underwater modem. Moreover, the modem will be integrated into the HippoCampus AUV (developed at TUHH) in order to run practical experiments and to build a function demonstrator within the RoboVaaS system. Innovations and Perspectives The investigated RoboVaaS system is --- due its service-driven aspect and variety of sensors and vehicles --- highly innovative. The development of efficient, light-weight, and resilient algorithms for underwater acoustic communication are a cornerstone of the entire concept and promises real-world research results that will advance the field of inexpensive underwater (swarm) robotics. Due to the involvement of local authorities of the city of Hamburg (Hamburg Port Authority), the system will already fulfill market requirements and will be tested under realistic conditions. Moreover, the involvement of international partners from both industry and academia build a complete consortium to investigate various facets of the system and foster cooperation between the involved parties.

Im Auftrag des GEOMAR Kiel forscht und entwickelt das Institut für Autonome Cyber-Physische Systeme an einem drahtlosen Auslösemechanismus für die Unterwassermessplattform MOLA (Modular Ocean Lander Architecture). Die MOLAs werden gezielt auf dem Meeresboden platziert und nehmen Unterwasser-Messdaten auf. Aufgrund der großen Datenmengen und limitierten Bandbreite in der Unterwasserkommunikation werden die Daten lokal auf den MOLAs gespeichert. Diese werden von Schiffen aus eingesammelt und die Daten heruntergeladen und ausgewertet. Um ein gezieltes Auftauchen der MOLAs, die in Tiefen von mehreren hundert bis tausend Metern auf dem Meeresgrund liegen, zu ermöglichen, soll das Auftauchen durch ein drahtloses akustisches Signal erfolgen. Die entsprechende Technik und Integration in MOLA werden in diesem Projekt realisiert. Dabei werden auch Energiesparmaßnahmen untersucht, um die Missionsdauer der MOLA nicht zu beeinträchtigen.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is entering our lives as embedded systems become smaller and more efficient, with small batteries enabling operation for several years. A revolutionary technology that can disappear in the environment and improve our quality of life ... until batteries need to be replaced. To solve this issue, intermittent computing (IC) proposes to ditch batteries by harvesting energy from the environment and store it in small buffers. To make battery-free systems a reality, we aim at removing three fundamental barriers of the IC paradigm by adding: (a) the ability to proactively plan when and how to use the extremely limited energy buffer to boost their utility; (b) the capability of interconnecting and coordinating IC devices to offer dependable services despite intermittency; (c) the understanding of which IC system designs can support given application requirements through modelling, simulation, and systematic experimentation. As a result, DI2T will develop and research scheduling algorithms and networking protocols as well as gather fundamental theoretical and practical insights necessary to enable IC systems for real-world applications. Along the way, the project will provide a foundational contribution to an emerging research community aiming at changing IoT in a robust and friendly technology that can truly disappear in the environment.