Development of an Underwater Robot for Sediment Soil Sampling

Abstract

An underwater sediment soil sampling robot is presented in this paper. The developed robot is composed of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), a buoyancy regulator, a sampling corer and other parts. Differ from traditional ROVs and sampling devices, the robot moves by swinging the fins and collects soil by regulating the buoyancy. This robot keeps neutral buoyant before sampling. When it is sampling, the buoyancy regulator is activated to drive the robot to dive and insert the sampling tube into the soil. The sampling corer is optimized to suit the robot. Experiments for evaluating the motion performance of the robot is explained and the field sampling is accomplished. The sampling result proves the utility of the robot in sediment soil sampling field.