Development of Autonomous Underwater Robot for Navigation through Narrow Passages

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), also called autonomous underwater robot, refers to an underwater robot that can independently complete tasks such as autonomous navigation, autonomous obstacle avoidance, and autonomous operation without human intervention. In some complex and narrow detection scenarios, autonomous underwater robots need to have a small volume, a high level of autonomy, and good maneuverability. Here, we design a miniature autonomous underwater robot driven by propellers, which integrates a high-performance processor, camera module, high-precision inertial measurement unit (IMU), etc. The attitude and position information of the robot is obtained in real-time through the IMU, and the processor controls the motion state of the six propellers, achieving the motion in six degrees of freedom in space. The highly integrated design ensures the maximum length of the whole machine within 15 cm, the 3-way PID controller design ensures an efficient and stable attitude control, and the high-performance processor provides more possibilities for target tracking and recognition. The developed AUV in this study shows superior navigation performance through narrow passages.

I. Introduction

Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), also known as marine robot or unmanned underwater robot, is a device that can replace humans to complete specific tasks underwater [1]. As a kind of high-tech equipment that can move in water, UUV has a perception ability and can assist or replace humans in completing various tasks. Underwater robots have important applications in the fields of marine research, marine development, and marine environmental protection [2], [3].