Development of the actuator concentration type removable underwater manipulator

Abstract

Authors have been developing the actuator concentration type removable underwater manipulator. This manipulator has the following features. 1. This manipulator makes it relatively easy to waterproof due to actuator concentration. 2. Wireless LAN Access Point(AP) is installed in underwater robot and AP connects with operating PC by wire LAN. This manipulator has a few cameras to take a look operation. The command to each actuator of manipulator and camera image communicate with operating PC via wireless LAN. Therefore, the external signal wire for control has no use. 3. Removable is easy because this manipulator is connected with the underwater robot body only with the power cable. In this paper, we verify the feasibility of 2 by wireless LAN communication experiment using seawater. Moreover, we describe the design of manufactured actuator concentration type removable manipulator and the experimental result.