Design and Application of a Free and Lightweight Aquaculture Water Quality Detection Robot

Abstract

Currently, the water quality detection of freshwater aquaculture environment is generally completed by humans; however, manual testing can only detect the surface water quality, and the testing job is a kind of high-intensity and high-risk operation that has to be done on the broad aquaculture waters under burning sun, strong wind, or cold weather conditions. Targeting at these problems, this study designed a robot for the aquaculture water quality testing job. The robot uses an equipped water quality detection module to collect parameters such as the water temperature, pH value, and dissolved oxygen (DO) content of the freshwater aquaculture environment from fixed points in real time. Moreover, the designed robot has an open-frame structure that adopts a three-propeller propulsion mode, two propellers provide vectorial-force propulsion and one propeller provides fixed-force propulsion for the robot, so that it could achieve free turning and has a light weight. At last, the study designed the control system of the robot and tested the performance of a prototype, the test results showed that, in terms of navigation control, dive control, water quality detection, and water parameter collection, the robot had satisfied the working requirements.