David Ribas is a researcher in the Department of Computer Engineering at the University of Girona, and a member of the Underwater Robotics Laboratory in the Computer Vision and Robotics Group. His research interests are focused in contributing to the development of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) and more particularly to the autonomous navigation problem using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) techniques.

• Industrial Engineering degree from the Universitat de Girona (2003).
• Phd degree in Industrial Engineering at the Universitat de Girona (2008).

SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping): Traditionally, localization and map building problems were treated as independent problems. With an a priori known map, a vehicle can recognize the environment through measurements from sensors and determine its location. On the other hand, if the vehicle’s position is known, the data from sensors can be used to generate a map. SLAM techniques try to merge these concepts to obtain a method capable of locating a vehicle and simultaneously building a map without a priori information.

Autonomous Robots: development of control architectures which are able to guide an autonomous robot in unknown environments and with the final goal of exhibiting intelligence.

Underwater Robotics: development of the sensory or the actuation systems required by an underwater vehicle, such as a positioning system, a vision-based target tracking or the robot controllers.

I acted as team leader of the VICOROB-UdG team which won the 2006 edition of the Student Autonomous Underwater Challenge - Europe (SAUC-E). In 2010, a new VICOROB-UdG team of students conquered again the challenge.

Journal articles

D. Ribas, N. Palomeras, P. Ridao, M. Carreras and A. Mallios.
Girona 500 AUV, from survey to intervention.
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 17(1):46–53, February 2012..

M. Carreras, P. Ridao, R. García, D. Ribas, and N. Palomeras.
Inspección visual subacuática mediante robótica submarina.
Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática Industrial, 9(1), January - March 2012.

M. Prats, D. Ribas, N. Palomeras, J. C. García, V. Nannen, S. Wirth, J. J. Fernández, J. P. Beltrán, R. Campos, P. Ridao, P. J. Sanz, G. Oliver, M. Carreras, N. Gracias, R. Marín, and A. Ortiz.
Reconfigurable AUV for Intervention Missions: A Case Study on Underwater Object Recovery.
Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics, 5(1):19–31, January 2012.

P. Ridao, M. Carreras, D. Ribas, R. García.
Visual inspection of hydroelectric dams using an autonomous underwater vehicle.
Journal of Field Robotics, 27(6):759-778, November - December 2010.

P. Ridao, M. Carreras, R. García, D. Ribas, and J. Batlle.
Advancing underwater robotics.
Water Power & Dam Construction, 62(5):40–43, May 2010.

E. Hernàndez, P. Ridao, D. Ribas, and J. Batlle.
MSISPIC: A probabilistic scan matching algorithm using a mechanical scanned imaging sonar.
Journal of Physical Agents, 3:3–11, 2009.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, J.D. Tardós and J. Neira.
Underwater SLAM in Man Made Structured Environments.
Journal of Field Robotics, 25(11-12):898–921, November - December 2008.

M. Carreras, N. Palomeras, P. Ridao and D. Ribas.
Design of a mission control system for an AUV.
International Journal of Control, 80(7):993–1007, July 2007.

Conference papers

C. Becker, P. Ridao, and D. Ribas.
Known-depth single-beacon bearings-only SLAM.
Robot 2011, Sevilla, Spain, November 2011.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, N. Palomeras, A. Mallios, M. Carreras, and L. Magí.
Girona 500, un vehículo autónomo submarino para la investigación.
Robot 2011, Sevilla, Spain, November 2011.

S. Zandara, P. Ridao, D. Ribas, R. Campos and R. García.
Kornati Bathymetry Survey Data-Set for Navigation and Mapping
19th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation, Corfu, Greece, June 2011.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, L. Magí, N. Palomeras, and M. Carreras.
The Girona 500, a multipurpose autonomous underwater vehicle
Oceans IEEE, Santander, Spain, June 2011.

P. Ridao, D. Ribas, E. Hernàndez and A. Rusu.
USBL/DVL Navigation through Delayed Position Fixes
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pages 2344-2349, Shanghai, China, May 2011.

A. Mallios, P. Ridao, D. Ribas, F. Maurelli and Y. Petillot.
EKF-SLAM for AUV navigation under probabilistic sonar scan-matching
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pages 4404–4411, Taipei, Taiwan, October 2010.

P. J. Sanz, M. Prats, P. Ridao, D. Ribas, G. Oliver and A. Ortiz.
Recent progress in the RAUVI project: A reconfigurable autonomous underwater vehicle for intervention.
52nd International Symposium ELMAR, Zadar, Croatia, September 2010.

A. Mallios, P. Ridao, D. Ribas and E. Hernàndez.
Probabilistic sonar scan matching SLAM for underwater environment.
Oceans IEEE, Sydney, Australia, May 2010.

A. Mallios, P. Ridao, E. Hernàndez and D. Ribas.
Pose-based SLAM with probabilistic scan matching algorithm using a mechanical scanned imaging sonar.
3rd Congrés Internacional sobre Tecnologia Marina. Martech’09, number 8 in Instrumentation viewpoint, page 32, November 2009.

P. Ridao, M. Carreras, R. García and D. Ribas.
AIRSUB: Recent results in vision-based dam inspection with an AUV.
11th Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Showcase, Southampton, UK, September 2009.

F. Maurelli, A. Mallios, D. Ribas and P. Ridao.
Particle filter based AUV localization using imaging sonar.
8th IFAC International Conference on Manoeuvring and Control of Marine Craft, Guaruja, Brasil, September 2009.

E. Hernàndez, P. Ridao, D. Ribas and A. Mallios.
Probabilistic sonar scan matching for an AUV.
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St. Louis, USA, October 2009.

T. Palmer, D. Ribas, P. Ridao and A. Mallios.
Vision based localization system for auv docking on subsea intervention panels.
Oceans IEEE, Bremen, Germany, May 2009.

A. Mallios, P. Ridao, E. Hernàndez, D. Ribas, F. Maurelli and Y. Petillot.
Pose-based SLAM with probabilistic scan matching algorithm using a mechanical scanned imaging sonar.
Oceans IEEE, Bremen, Germany, May 2009.

W. Kazmi, P. Ridao, D. Ribas and E. Hernández.
Dam Wall Detection and Tracking Using a Mechanically Scanned Imaging Sonar.
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Kobe, Japan, May 2009.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, J. Neira and J.D. Tardós.
Underwater SLAM for manmade environments.
2nd Congrés Internacional sobre Tecnologia Marina (Martech'07), Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain, November 2007.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, J.D. Tardós and, J. Neira.
Underwater SLAM in a marina environment.
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, USA, October 2007.

G. García de Marina, D. Ribas and P. Ridao.
A global localization system for structured environments using an imaging sonar.
IFAC Conference on Control in Marine Systems, Bol, Croatia, September 2007.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, J. Neira and J.D. Tardós.
A method for extracting lines and their uncertainty from acoustic underwater images for SLAM.
6th IFAC Symposium on Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles, Toulouse, France, September 2007.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, J. Neira and J.D. Tardós.
Line extraction from mechanically scanned imaging sonar.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4477:322–329, 2007.

D. Ribas, N. Palomeras, P. Ridao, M. Carreras and E. Hernàndez.
Ictineu AUV wins the first SAUC-E competition.
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Roma, Italy, April 2007.

E. Hernàndez, P. Ridao, M. Carreras, D. Ribas and N. Palomeras.
Ictineu AUV, un Robot per a Competir.
9th Congrés Català d'Intel.ligència Artificial, Perpignan, France, October 2006.

D. Ribas, J. Neira, P. Ridao and J.D. Tardós.
SLAM using an imaging sonar for partially structured environments.
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing, China, October 2006.

D. Ribas, J. Neira, P. Ridao and J.D. Tardós.
AUV localization in structured underwater environments using an a priori map.
7th IFAC Conference on Manoeuvring and Control of Marine Crafts, Lisboa, Portugal, September 2006.

P. Ridao, E. Batlle, D. Ribas, and M. Carreras.
NEPTUNE: A HIL simulator for multiple UUVs.
Oceans 04 MTS/IEEE, Kobe, Japan, November 9-12 2004.

P. Ridao, D. Ribas, E. Batlle, and E. Hernandez.
Simulation of physical agents. An application to underwater robots.
V Workshop on Physical Agents, Girona, Spain, March 2004.

P. Ridao, M. Carreras, D. Ribas, and A. El-Fakdi.
Graphical simulators for AUV development.
First International Symposium on Control, Communications and Signal Processing, Hammamet, Tunisia, March 2004.

M. Carreras, P. Ridao, J. Batlle, and D. Ribas.
High-accuracy localization of an underwater robot in a structured environment using computer vision.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2652:150–157, 2003.

R. Garcia, T. Nicosevici, P. Ridao, and D. Ribas.
Towards a real-time vision-based navigation system for a small-class UUV.
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, USA, October 2003.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, M. Carreras, and X. Cufí.
An EKF vision-based navigation of an UUV in a structured environment.
6th IFAC Conference on Manoeuvring and Control of Marine Crafts, Girona, Spain, September 2003.

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, X. Cufí, and A. El-fakdi.
Towards a DVL-based navigation system for an underwater robot.
4th Workshop on European Scientific and Industrial Collaboration, Miskolc, Hungary, May 2003.

Books & book chapters

D. Ribas, P. Ridao, and J. Neira
Underwater SLAM for Structured Environments Using an Imaging Sonar.
Number 65 in Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Alemania, August 2010.

J. Batlle, P. Ridao, R. Garcia, M. Carreras, X. Cufí, A. El-Fakdi, D. Ribas, T. Nicosevici, E. Batlle, G. Oliver, A. Ortiz and J. Antich.
URIS: Underwater Robotic Intelligent System.
Automation for the Maritime Industries, chapter 11, pages 177–203. Instituto de Automática Industrial, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, first edition, 2004.

Other publications

D. Ribas.
Underwater SLAM for Structured Environment Using an Imaging Sonar.
PhD Thesis, Girona, Spain, 2008.

D. Ribas.
Towards Simultaneous Localization & Mapping for an AUV Using an Imaging Sonar.
Master Thesis, Girona, Spain, 2005.

• Abandoned Marina Dataset. Experiment performed at the Fluvia Nautic abandoned marina near St Pere Pescador (Spain) in 16 March 2007. [Description] [Files]
If you use this dataset, please reference this article in your publications.