Virginia Tech researchers continue to innovate underwater robotics missions with support from the Office of Naval Research

It’s been said that we know more about the surface of the moon than the floor of Earth’s oceans. For more than two decades, Virginia Tech’s Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics has been developing robots that can find what lies beneath the sea surface with the support of the Office of Naval Research.

Bringing together faculty and students from the College of Engineering and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, the center is developing advanced underwater robots and autonomy algorithms that enable them to operate intelligently without human oversight. The research team recently was awarded two grants totaling more than $5 million to continue that mission. Two additional grant proposals, totaling about $2.4 million, have been selected by the agency and awards are in process.

“Our positive, growing relationship with the Navy is a direct result of our ability to be responsive to the Navy’s needs, including technology development and training of the next generation of Navy science and technology leaders,” said Dan Stilwell, electrical and computer engineering professor. “Our students and staff are designing and deploying the next generation of autonomous underwater robots with capabilities that are far beyond those of current Navy systems.”

Stilwell, who co-directs the center alongside aerospace and ocean engineering Professor Stefano Brizzolara, noted the strong and long-standing support for center’s work from across the Navy’s science and technology enterprise, including various Navy labs and commercial organizations, in addition to the Office of Naval Research.   

The projects and their applications

Advancing Unconventional Marine Platforms, $2.4 million, Office of Naval Research 

This project aims to develop vehicle systems that utilize hydrofoils, or what can be thought of as “underwater wings.” These underwater wings enable a surface vehicle to travel at high speed while using much less energy than a conventional boat. The center is developing several types of unconventional vehicles that use hydrofoils. One type could be ridden by human scuba divers while traveling at high-speed on the surface of the water. The same vehicle would transform itself into a more conventional diver propulsion vehicle and tow a diver while underwater. Another example is a small surface vehicle that is fully autonomous. A specific innovation sought by the Navy for this vehicle is the ability to operate in breaking waves at the surf-zone. 

Applications include:

• Lifeguard-like autonomous rescues
• Taking measurements underneath the waves, providing a novel approach to monitoring and reconnaissance
•  Serving as a platform for cameras and sensors to record

Innovative Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, $2.7 million, Office of Naval Research

This project seeks to enhance the capabilities of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in conducting long-duration missions within challenging and unstructured environments. 

Applications include:

• Advanced methods that allow AUVs to operate efficiently and effectively in non-permissive, unpredictable underwater settings 
• Minimized energy consumption navigation errors over extended period
• Ability to detect and appropriately respond to other entities in the underwater environment, enhancing craft situational awareness and operational safety

Partners

•  Dan Stilwell, co-director of Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics, Seale Coastal Zone Observatory Faculty Fellow, professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Stefano Brizzolara, co-director of Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics, Crofton Faculty Fellow, professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
• Nathan Alexander, associate professor, aerospace and ocean engineering
• Lakshmi Miller, research assistant professor, National Security Institute
• Daniel Jakubisin, research assistant professor, National Security Institute
• Brad Davis, assistant director, Spectrum Dominance Division, National Security Institute
• Andy Kurdila, professor, mechanical engineering
• Majid Monteghi, associate professor, electrical and computer engineering

Progress after Ph.D.

Graduate students in the Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics are working on everything from propulsion to specialized autonomy that enables teams of AUVs to collaborate underwater. Brizzolara and Stilwell together have advised dozens of graduate students and postdocs who are now contributing broadly to the Navy science and technology enterprise.  

For Lakshmi Miller, research assistant professor at the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, partnering with the Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics to enhance the capabilities of one of the center’s infamous underwater vehicles, the VT 690 AUV, is somewhat serendipitous. She earned her Ph.D. from the aerospace and ocean engineering department under the guidance of Brizzolara while working on that very same underwater vehicle from 2019-23. She credits her success in her current position to her experience in the lab.

“Being part of a cross-functional team isn’t something that is present in most Ph.D. programs,” said Miller. “Every week we had team meetings, and it was like having an engineering job at a company. I even had the opportunity to participate in the field trials. So now when I am collaborating on an AUV development at the National Security Institute, working on fast-paced cross-disciplinary teams comes naturally to me.”

Several other Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics Ph.D. alumni have applied their robust research experience from the lab to work in industry and government settings. Jorge Jimenez ‘21 and Benjamin Biggs ’23 both work as senior autonomy engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. They credit the work of applying mathematical concepts to real problems - such as testing AUV capabilities at Claytor Lake - to their now successful careers.

“To this day, the hardest thing I've ever done is obtain my Ph.D. in Dan and Stefano’s Lab,” said Jimenez. “I was previously with the Department of the Navy for three years and wrote proposals, received grants, and even submitted two patent applications, but going through that lab was the hardest thing. It made me well prepared. That experience taught me the right questions to ask and how to be a good contributor, so I am thankful for those four years.”

The bottom line

This support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) highlights Virginia Tech’s expertise in pioneering research that enhances the capabilities of underwater vehicle systems in complex environments. The outcomes of these projects could have far-reaching implications for underwater exploration, national defense, and environmental monitoring, and an even greater impact on the students and faculty involved in these projects. 

Brizzolara has seen his students work on these high-level projects and go on to tackle successful careers in national security, commercial robotics, and more. 

“The partnership we have with the Office of Naval Research is one that is mutually beneficial,” Brizzolara said. “Yes, we are helping solve problems and innovate technologies, but we are also preparing these students in a way that can’t be done in a traditional classroom setting. I know when my students leave here, they will be prime candidates for jobs at the ONR or anywhere else for that matter.”

Many of the students and alumni of the Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics started working in the lab because of their fascination with autonomy and robotics. For Biggs, he appreciates the expertise he gained during his Ph.D. as it is serving him well in his engineering role at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, but his fondest memories of the work were on the lake where it all comes together.

“The wonder of it all is something that just can’t be explained,” said Biggs. “It's almost like magic, to see and understand how these robots work. That feeling of wonder has been a driving force for me. At Virginia Tech, I just wanted to learn more and it's only grown from there. The beauty of seeing these systems work in the real world is an incredible thing.”