Experiments On a System of Multi-AUV Interlinked With a Smart Cable For Autonomous Inspection of Underwater Structures

Abstract

We proposed the HS (Hand-in-hand System) for the autonomous inspection of structures. The HS addresses cable-based modular robotics as an application. In this paper, 3 representative experiments are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the HS. The first experiment is navigation by HS. AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) take images of all inspection targets and navigational accuracy is estimated. The second experiment deals with obstacle avoidance. In case the smart cable is entangled within obstacles, AUV disentangle the cable and modify the plan for avoidance. The last experiment is the high-speed scanning by HS. AUV make a formation to generate the panoramic image and scan the tank wall surface. Finally, we estimate the accuracy of the mosaicked image they have developed.