Design and Control of a Self-Balancing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle with Vision and Detection Capabilities

Abstract

In this paper, the authors discuss the design and control of an autonomous underwater vehicle with vision and detection capabilities. The tasks involved the design of various mechanical parts, particularly two rotating thrusters and a mass shifter to control the device movement. Sensor boards were also embedded to share information with a Mini-PC board and thus, to assure proper operation. Control-based algorithms were developed to control the vehicle operation and assure proper responses to external commands and/or surrounding conditions.