A unified shared control architecture for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems using task priority

Underwater vehicle-manipulator systems (UVMSs) face great challenges in autonomous operation in unstructured underwater environments. Relying solely on teleoperation for both underwater vehicles and underwater manipulators imposes significant cognitive and physical burdens on operators, making it difficult to sustain during long-term tasks. Although some fully autonomous or semi-autonomous UVMSs have been developed, fully automated control is still inadequate for complex and delicate operations in open and unstructured underwater environments, and human intervention remains necessary.