Stability of Under-water Dredging Robot in Strong Current

Abstract

Dredging work of narrow navigation channel like Kanmon Channel is often restricted by such conditions as strong current, congestion by large ships etc. As a result, current dredging method using grab bucket dredger is not efficient and requires a long period of dredging work because of work time restriction by strong current and need for securing of ships'navigation. Therefore we initiated research of dredging method using under-water robot that enables ships'navigation any time. The research includes investigation of dredging methods, type of vehicle , dredging equipment etc. Here we report the result of model test and numerical simulation on stability of under-water robot in strong current.