Towards a fine-manipulation system with tactile feedback for deep-sea environments

• Overview state-of-the-art underwater manipulation.
• Design presentation of a multi-limb fine-manipulation system with tactile feedback.
• Description of hydraulic, electronic and software systems.
• Presentation of suitable tactile sensors for deep-sea missions.
• Presentation of experiment results testing the tactile sensor under 600 bar ambient pressure.

Deep-sea manipulation is among the most challenging tasks in underwater robotics. Commonly used manipulation systems consist of a two-limb gripper system with limited force-feedback. Poor viewing conditions due to hazy water and missing depth information complicate the execution of manipulation tasks. By looking at the variety of different tasks that need to be fulfilled a design for a multi-limb gripper system is derived that is equipped with tactile sensors which allow fine-manipulation tasks. The feasibility of the described approach is demonstrated by testing one finger of the manipulation system in a pressure chamber under 600 bar.