THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE USE OF ROBOTIC AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS IN SUPPORT OF THE BLUE ECONOMY

Economic activity in the marine environment requires the timely delivery of high-quality data that has both spatial and temporal relevance. Operation within this environment is complicated by the often-harsh working conditions that may pose a danger to staff and infrastructure. Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in the maritime domain, are increasingly seen as central to supporting the scaling-up of the blue economy. In 2020, a scoping study on the use of RAS was conducted for the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre. The study involved engagement with representatives of the offshore energy and aquaculture industries, government regulators, and academics. The identified operating conditions and system roles are such that no one platform is sufficient. What is clear, however, is the need to couple more directly the efforts of platform designers, builders, and integrators with the anticipated needs of a growing stakeholder base. The further development of technologies such as underwater communication and navigation, environmental sensing for situational awareness, power systems, and efficient and flexible autonomous logic will set the pace of RAS development. A framework for communicating operational context is proposed. This is based on the segmentation of industrial environmental conditions, assessment of the technology underpinning RAS, and the readiness of components.