Automatic control of a ROV for inspection of underwater structures using a low-cost sensing

Abstract

This work deals with the implementation of a position and orientation automatic control of an underwater vehicle to perform inspection tasks of submerged structures without using the knowledge of a previous dynamic model in the control law and, mainly, by using a low-cost embedded minimal instrumentation. This instrumentation does not employ expensive components to determine the position and orientation of the vehicle, like a central inertial. In this way, a computer vision system is used as a sensory source in order to assist the control. It was developed an algorithm to image processing and a system for integrating the different sensors. Experimental results using the proposed sensing show that the closed-loop control of the vehicle was suitable for the conduction of inspections.