Simulation and Experiment of Underwater Vehicle Manipulator System Using Zero-Moment Point Method

Abstract

Underwater vehicle-manipulator system (UVMS) has been known as the useful underwater vehicle to perform various tasks under the water. When the UVMS performs the manipulative operation, the movement of manipulator causes stability problems of the UVMS system. To solve this problem, an algorithm for stabilizing the UVMS is necessary. In this paper, Zero Moment Point (ZMP) algorithm is used to improve the stability of the UVMS while the manipulator tracks the given trajectory. Since the UVMS system is the redundant system, some constraints for optimal purposes are necessary. For this, the distance between the ZMP and the mass center of the vehicle is adopted as the performance index. Gradient Projection Method (GPM) is used to minimize the performance index through null space solution of the redundancy resolution. Finally, simulation and experiment will be conducted to verify the algorithm.