Autonomous Underwater robots for safer and efficient operations in fish farms

Fisheries and fish farming are important global contributors to the production of seafood for human consumption. These industries are also known for substantially higher HSE risks and work-related injury frequencies which implies that increasing the automation level of high-risk operations within fisheries and aquaculture would lead not only to economical but also social and ethical benefits. Using intelligent machines and robots to replace humans in challenging and dangerous environments may improve the HSE situation in these industries, which will benefit society. Increased automation will improve the level of control humans have over operations in aquaculture by facilitating increased future use of autonomous underwater robots in the industry. This paper aims to address challenges on how autonomous operations in complex and dynamically changing environments can be realized by enabling underwater robots to adapt their actions by considering interaction with fish, deformable flexible structures and environmental disturbances. This harmonises with the currently emerging Precision Fish Farming (PFF) concept, which outlines how innovative technologies and automation principles may be used to industrialise, digitise and improve operations in fish farming.