Communication and Control for Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents a research and development on communication and control for Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROV). Todays, ROVs are popular used in oceanic research for purposes, such as current and temperature measurement, ocean floor mapping and hydrothermal vent detection. ROVs utilize seafloor mapping, bathymetry, digital cameras, magnetic sensors, and ultrasonic imaging. In this work, a ROV is designed with a torpedo-shaped. The ROV is driven by flexible steering system, including a couple of blade ruder in the horizontal direction and a couple of steering thrusters in the vertical direction. For communication and control the ROV from a Ground Control Station (GCS) on a mothership or on land, a lightweight messaging protocol for communicating with ROV based on developing MAVLink has been used. Communication and control system of the ROV from a GCS are including two steps. The first step, communication between the ROV and a float is conducted via electrical cable technology. The float is used as a wireless access point. The companion computer is designed based on Linux operating system to communicate and transport MAVLink protocol between the main control system of ROV and the float. The second step, communication between the float and a GCS on mothership or on land is conducted via wireless technology. The GCS is setup wireless interface with static IP address, and same router’s gateway with the companion computer.KeywordsCommunicationControlROVGCSMothershipMAVLink