Compact Underwater Robotic Tool Changer System

Abstract

Aiming repairing underwater concrete structural defects in underwater structures, which involves multiple tools during the repairing procedure, this paper developed a robotic tool changer system for underwater robots. Firstly, the tool changer system is designed, which includes three modules: the auxiliary guiding module, the limiting mechanism module and the underwater lighting module. In order to ensure the ROV can carry the working tools to the desired position with sufficient stability margin, the maximum traveling speed of the system in the horizontal and vertical directions is obtained in the simulation environment. Then the underwater robotic tool changer prototype system is developed and implemented, where the corresponding ROV attitude control algorithm is obtained through underwater camera calibration and pose estimation. Finally, laboratory verification is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the underwater monocular docking algorithm, and the results showed that the overall orientation error of ROV was within 5 degrees, which met the design requirements.