Variable-Structure Robot System for Underwater Investigation

- Sailing control of a moored boat by its arm and rudders -

Abstract

As part of the NEDO robot project, we are engaged in developing a surface/underwater robot system which investigates underwater infrastructure such as dams and river facilities. Its physical configuration can be changed according to working environment or task. In this paper, we propose a moored boat system with a control arm that can change the position of a coupling point with mooring wire. Sailing of the boat is controlled by changing only angle of arm and rudder with using visual tracking system and wireless communication device to reach the desired goal against running water. Through experiments conducted in an indoor pool with a miniaturized catamaran, the results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.