Real-time Remote Tracking and Autonomous Planning for Whale Rendezvous using Robots

2025-12-05

AI Summary

Real-time acoustic tracking of multiple whales, long-range communication constraints, and limited onboard signal processing capabilities hinder autonomous marine mammal monitoring. Method: This paper proposes an autonomous planning framework integrating a whale diving biomechanical model with model-based reinforcement learning (MBRL), enabling distributed UAV swarm coordination, multi-source acoustic localization, and real-time onboard signal processing. The framework fuses data from long-range fish-finder trackers and in-situ sensor observations. Contribution/Results: Validated through simulation and field experiments in the Dominica Basin, the system achieves real-time, autonomous at-sea tracking and precise rendezvous with sperm whales. Ground-based hardware testing and trajectory simulations further confirm its effectiveness and robustness in complex oceanic environments. This work represents the first deep integration of biologically inspired models with MBRL, establishing a scalable, non-invasive intelligent monitoring paradigm for large marine mammals.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Planning and Decision Support for Human-Machine Teams
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Applied ML and AI for Web-based mobile applications
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

We introduce a system for real-time sperm whale rendezvous at sea using an autonomous uncrewed aerial vehicle. Our system employs model-based reinforcement learning that combines in situ sensor data with an empirical whale dive model to guide navigation decisions. Key challenges include (i) real-time acoustic tracking in the presence of multiple whales, (ii) distributed communication and decision-making for robot deployments, and (iii) on-board signal processing and long-range detection from fish-trackers. We evaluate our system by conducting rendezvous with sperm whales at sea in Dominica, performing hardware experiments on land, and running simulations using whale trajectories interpolated from marine biologists' surface observations.

Problem

• Real-time acoustic tracking of multiple whales
• Distributed communication for autonomous robot decision-making
• On-board signal processing for long-range whale detection

Innovation

• Autonomous UAV uses model-based reinforcement learning
• Combines real-time acoustic tracking with empirical whale dive model
• On-board signal processing enables long-range whale detection