Station keeping of an ROV using vision technology

This paper will present the results of a demonstration of two degree-of-freedom automatic station keeping of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in an ocean environment using vision feedback. This work was done as a collaborative effort in vehicle control between the Aerospace Robotics Laboratory (ARL) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Institute (MBARI). The results show how the transfer of technology from a testbed autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to an ocean-going ROV can be applied to the creation of pilot aids that reduce ROV pilot workload during certain tasks.