# Word2Wave: Language Driven Mission Programming for Efficient Subsea Deployments of Marine Robots

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.18405 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.18405/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 27 Sep 2024.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [DREAM: Domain-aware Reasoning for Efficient Autonomous Underwater Monitoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.13666/) (2025)
- [LLM-VLM Fusion Framework for Autonomous Maritime Port Inspection using a Heterogeneous UAV-USV System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.13096/) (2026)
- [LASSA Architecture-Based Autonomous Fault-Tolerant Control of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.09494/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper explores the design and development of a language-based interface for dynamic mission programming of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The proposed `Word2Wave' (W2W) framework enables interactive programming and parameter configuration of AUVs for remote subsea missions. The W2W framework includes: (i) a set of novel language rules and command structures for efficient language-to-mission mapping; (ii) a GPT-based prompt engineering module for training data generation; (iii) a small language model (SLM)-based sequence-to-sequence learning pipeline for mission command generation from human speech or text; and (iv) a novel user interface for 2D mission map visualization and human-machine interfacing. The proposed learning pipeline adapts an SLM named T5-Small that can learn language-to-mission mapping from processed language data effectively, providing robust and efficient performance. In addition to a benchmark evaluation with state-of-the-art, we conduct a user interaction study to demonstrate the effectiveness of W2W over commercial AUV programming interfaces. Across participants, W2W-based programming required less than 10% time for mission programming compared to traditional interfaces; it is deemed to be a simpler and more natural paradigm for subsea mission programming with a usability score of 76.25. W2W opens up promising future research opportunities on hands-free AUV mission programming for efficient subsea deployments.