This work is funded by the ANR «Investissements d'avenir» number ANR-19-GURE-0001 in the framework of the ERASMUS+ SEA UE consortium.

In the framework of SEA-EU, ROV-Operate is a collaboration between the Univ. of Split (University Department of Professional Studies, and Faculty of Sciences), University of Gdansk, and the University of Brest (Computer science department/Faculty of Sciences and Lab-STICC). This collaboration has been initiated in 2020 with the first SEA-EU funding call of the UBO.

The University of Split has designed a ROV (or Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle) for marine infrastructure inspection. This ROV is not autonomous: it is operated by hand and is wired and connected to a control ground station for the energy and communication facilities. The current ROV also has a limited computation capability. A new version is currently designed by the University of Split to provide enough computing resources for intensive computing applications such as image processing or artificial intelligence algorithms. Embedding computing-intensive software may contribute to making the ROV autonomous but raises challenges to managing computing resources. Indeed, a ROV, autonomous or not, has safety and real-time constraints to meet. Computing resources have to be managed to both enforce safety and real-time constraints and also to run computing-intensive applications enough to deliver useful results in the context of a limited amount of energy. In the ROV-Operate project, the consortium will investigate 1) how to design and optimize with AADL the architecture of the ROV software integrating both control and payload and 2) how to handle underwater image processing and object detection algorithms with the ROV’s cameras and computing resources.

Several teaching exchanges are planning between University of Split and Brest during ROV-Operate. Here are the materials of those teaching activities:

Articles and posters

  1. Diving Deep: Comparative Analysis and Design of Neural Network Based Algorithm Selection for Underwater Image Processing. Nihitha Malayarukil, Hai Nam Tran, Barbara Džaja, Vincent Rodin. 2025 10th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies (SpliTech). June 2025
  2. Simulation and Optimisation of a Submarine ROV with AADL. Ivan Kovačević, Jure Antunovicz, Tonko Kovacevic, Laurent Lemarchand, Frank Singhoff. 4th ADEPT workshop: AADL by its practitioners, Jun 2025, Paris, France.
  3. Deep Learning Based Algorithm Selection Approach for Underwater Image Processing. N. Malayarukil, H. N. Tran, B. Džaja and V. Rodin, Poster presented at 2025 IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Computing (IC_ETC), Brest, France, 2025.
  4. ROV-Operate: system engineering of an underwater ROV for early verification and automatic synthesis. Vincent Rodin, Marko Vukšić, Tonko Kovacevic, Predrag Đukić, Roko Rogulj, Slaven Šitić, Barbara Džaja, Hrvoje Turić, Jakub Zdroik, Hai Nam Tran, Valérie-Anne Nicolas, Alain Plantec, Laurent Lemarchand, Frank Singhoff. Poster presented during Multidisciplinary Conference "BEING SEA-EU", 2024, 10-06-2024 - 12-06-2024, Valletta, Malta.
  5. Increasing the autonomy of an underwater ROV. Marko Vukšić, Tonko Kovacevic, Barbara Džaja, Predrag Đukić, Slaven Šitić, Hai Nam Tran, Vincent Rodin, Laurent Lemarchand, Valérie-Anne Nicolas, Alain Plantec, Frank Singhoff. Poster presented during the Sea Tech Week, Brest, France, September 2022.
  6. Evaluation of Underwater Image Restoration Algorithms. Le Boudec, A., Mkrtchyan, A., Džaja, B., Rodin, V., & Tran, H. N. (2021, September). In 2021 6th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies (SpliTech) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Master Thesis

  1. Software development for an underwater ROV using PIXHAWK technology and AADL modelling. Ivan Kovacevic. Master thesis of the University of Split, August 2025.
  2. Évaluation et Déploiement d'Algorithmes de Traitement d'Images Sous-Marines. Noemie Cabioch. Master 2 informatique LSE, Brest, septembre 2025.
  3. Evaluation of Underwater Image Processing Algorithms. Nihitha Malayarukil. Masters in Artificial Intelligence of CentraleSupelec, October 2024
  4. Multi-Objective Optimization and Obstacle Avoidance Strategies for Remotely Operated Vehicles Path Planning. Ivana Kalajzic. Master thesis of the University of Split, August 2024
  5. Software development for an underwater ROV using PIXHAWK technology and AADL modeling. Jure Antunović, Master thesis of the University of Split, June 2023
  6. Multi-objective optimization between real-time and energy of a ROV. Nikolina Amižić. Masther thesis of the university of Split, June 2021.
  7. Multi-objective optimization between real-time and energy of a ROV. Tina Baleta. Masther thesis of the university of Split, June 2021.
  8. Évaluation des algorithmes de traitement d’images et de vidéos sous-marines. Master 2 informatique LSE, Brest, Artur Mkrtchyan, septembre 2021
  9. Etudes d'algorithmes pour améliorer une image sous l'eau. Alan Le Boudec. Master 2 informatique LSE, Brest, septembre 2021

The ROV-operate project has been funded by ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) in the framework of "Investissements d'avenir" program number ANR-19-GURE-2001 under the funding proposals ROV-Operate, TARO and IA-AUV.

Involved permanent staffs: Tonko Kovacevic, Marko Vukšić, Barbara Džaja, Predrag Dukic, Roko Rogulj, Hrvoje Turić, Slaven Šitić, Vladimir Plestina, athilda Sprung, Jakub Zdroik, Alain Plantec, Hai Nam Tran, Laurent Lemarchand, Valérie-Anne Nicolas, Vincent Rodin, Stéphane Rubini, and Frank Singhoff

Involved Students: Ivan Kovacevic, Noemie Cabioch, Nihitha Malayarukil, Ivana Kalajzic, Jure Antunović, Tina Baleta, Nikolina Amižić, Artur Mkrtchyan, Alan Le Boudec.

Coordinators : Marko Vukšić, Frank Singhoff, Laurent Lemarchand.