Design and control of a convertible ROV

Abstract

In this paper, a study of a new convertible, six degree of freedom(DOF) underwater robot, which can be a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) or an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) depending on the purpose of the underwater task, is presented. The design and development of the architecture of the developed control system for the ROV and the AUV are presented. The thrusting system of an AUV is analyzed. For navigation, a sensor fusion board, which can process various sensor signals to estimate and identify the correct states of the vehicle, is developed, and a total control system including the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is designed. For the ROV, a depth control test in the sea is performed and its results are presented and discussed.