Experimental results on smooth path tracking with application to pipe surveying on inexpensive AUV

CALVO IBÁÑEZ, O.A.; ROZENFELD, A.F.; SOUSA, A.L.; VALENCIAGA, F.; PULESTON, P.F.; ACOSTA, G.G.

Nice, France

Conferencia; Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems – IROS 2008; 2008

This paper details the development aspects of alow cost AUV autonomous, designed for autonomous piplineinspections, describing: hardware, software and control aspects.The article details three of the mains stages of the project,that have been already achieved: (a) the simulation results ofLyapunov based path planning of torpedo shaped AUV on pipesearching; (b) the contruction details of dual torpedo AUV forpipeline inspection and (c) the experimental results when usingthe prototype in path following using the Line of Sight (LOS)algorithm.Pipeline searching involves a series of zig zag explorationsof the area where the pipe is presumably located. The pathfollowing method is based on a combination of Lyapunovtechnique and PI controller acting over thruster and rudder ona torpedo shaped AUV, designed originally for Oceanographicpurposes.The article also shows the hardware and software detailsof a new low cost prototype designed specifically for pipelineinspections. The new vehicle called AUVI (Autonomous UnderwaterVehicle for Inspections) [8], is a dual torpedo with adifferent thruster configuration than the Cormoran, operatingin a differential thruster mode.Finally, the article shows experimental results of the newvehicle, where a LOS is used to keep the vehicle describingan almost circular path. When the design of the vehicle iscompleted and a good model of the new vehicle is obtained, theLyapunov technique will be tested at full depth as it was donefor the Cormoran.