Technology and Equipment for Underwater Robots

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Ocean Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 April 2024 | Viewed by 6759

Special Issue Editors

Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Interests: marine robotics; underwater intervention; underwater robotics; intelligent marine systems; underwater vehicles
Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
Interests: mechatronics; marine robots; energy harvesting

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Background: The Special Issue will include contributions describing novel results in the multidisciplinary area of autonomous marine robotics.

Aim and scope: Results may refer to theoretical and fundamental research, hydrodynamic and numerical results, underwater robot modelling and control, vehicle navigation, guidance and control.

History: The use of autonomous robots and systems in marine operations during the last years has been gaining interest and importance in many industrial and research applications.

Cutting-edge research: The use of autonomous robots and systems has been flourishing in areas as geotechnical surveys, marine infrastructure installation and monitoring, oil and gas geophysical exploration, aquaculture and fisheries, underwater intervention and manipulation, multi-robot coordinated and cooperative missions for mapping, exploration and data acquisition, renewable energies, maritime transport, environmental data acquisition, and underwater mining.

What kind of paper we are looking for: This Special Issue aims to include high-quality journal articles contributing to topics on marine or underwater robotics.

The use of autonomous robots and systems in marine operations during the last years has been gaining interest and importance in many industrial and research applications. The use of autonomous robots and systems has been flourishing in areas as geotechnical surveys, marine infrastructure installation and monitoring, oil and gas geophysical exploration, aquaculture and fisheries, underwater intervention and manipulation, multi-robot coordinated and cooperative missions for mapping, exploration and data acquisition, renewable energies, maritime transport, environmental data acquisition, and underwater mining.

Dr. Yinglong Chen
Dr. Tao Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • marine robotics control system design and applications
  • underwater intervention
  • underwater robotics
  • Intelligent and autonomous marine robotic systems
  • underwater vehicles and manipulators
  • marine renewable energy for robotic systems

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4678 KiB  
Article
Lightweight Robotic Joint with Thermally Activated Paraffin Actuator in the Deep Sea
by Dayong Ning, Xiaokang He, Jiaoyi Hou, Gangda Liang and Kang Zhang
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(12), 2253; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11122253 - 29 Nov 2023
Viewed by 704
Abstract
The abundance of resources in the deep sea continues to inspire mankind’s desire for exploration. However, the extreme environments pose a huge challenge for designing deep-sea mechanical devices that are primarily driven by hydraulic and electric motor technology. Researchers are beginning to explore [...] Read more.
The abundance of resources in the deep sea continues to inspire mankind’s desire for exploration. However, the extreme environments pose a huge challenge for designing deep-sea mechanical devices that are primarily driven by hydraulic and electric motor technology. Researchers are beginning to explore more flexible and innovative drive methods suitable for the deep-sea environment. This paper presents a simple joint mechanism based on a paraffin phase change thermal expansion drive. Its unique design combines a flexible cell with an open structure that allows it to adapt to different pressures at different water depths. Paraffin is enclosed in multiple sets of smaller paraffin cells, which act as thermal expansion material for generating hydraulic pressure. The software comsol was used to perform a finite element analysis of the phase change process in paraffin. By fabricating the mechanical structure, the displacement generated by the thermal expansion is amplified and converted, thus enabling a bi-directional rotational displacement output from the joint while reducing the complexity of the structure. The joints in this paper provide a reliable reference for the design of small deep-sea robot drive systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Equipment for Underwater Robots)
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20 pages, 6101 KiB  
Article
Research on an Underwater Target-Tracking Method Based on Zernike Moment Feature Matching
by Wenhan Gao, Shanmin Zhou, Shuo Liu, Tao Wang, Bingbing Zhang, Tian Xia, Yong Cai and Jianxing Leng
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(8), 1594; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11081594 - 14 Aug 2023
Viewed by 753
Abstract
Sonar images have the characteristics of lower resolution and blurrier edges compared to optical images, which make the feature-matching method in underwater target tracking less robust. To solve this problem, we propose a particle filter (PF)-based underwater target-tracking method utilizing Zernike moment feature [...] Read more.
Sonar images have the characteristics of lower resolution and blurrier edges compared to optical images, which make the feature-matching method in underwater target tracking less robust. To solve this problem, we propose a particle filter (PF)-based underwater target-tracking method utilizing Zernike moment feature matching. Zernike moments are used to construct the feature-description vector for feature matching and contribute to the update of particle weights. In addition, the particle state transition method is optimized by using a first-order autoregressive model. In this paper, we compare Hu moments and Zernike moments, and we also compare whether to optimize the particle state transition on the tracking results or not based on the effects of each option. The experimental results based on the AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) prove that the robustness and accuracy of this innovative method is better than the other combined methods mentioned in this paper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Equipment for Underwater Robots)
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16 pages, 5057 KiB  
Article
Improving the Misalignment Tolerance of Wireless Power Transfer System for AUV with Solenoid-Dual Combined Planar Magnetic Coupler
by Haibing Wen, Peng Wang, Jiayuan Li, Jiadong Yang, Kehan Zhang, Lei Yang, Yaopeng Zhao and Xiangqian Tong
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(8), 1571; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11081571 - 09 Aug 2023
Viewed by 910
Abstract
In order to solve the problem of power transmission efficiency reduction resulting from misalignment in the Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) system for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUVs), a novel coupling structure with strong tolerance to misalignment is proposed. A solenoid coil is selected as [...] Read more.
In order to solve the problem of power transmission efficiency reduction resulting from misalignment in the Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) system for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUVs), a novel coupling structure with strong tolerance to misalignment is proposed. A solenoid coil is selected as the transmitting coil, and the receiving coil is composed of dual combined planar coils. The WPT system can still maintain stable output under uncertain axial misalignments for AUVs. The magnetic field distribution of the proposed magnetic coupling structure is analyzed theoretically, and the distance between the coils in the dual combined planar receiving coil is optimized. The theoretical analysis shows that the proposed solenoid-dual combined planar coils coupling structure can effectively maintain a stable mutual inductance between the transmitting coil and receiving coil under different axial misalignments compared with solenoid-unipolar planar coil coupling structure. An S-S resonant compensated WPT experimental prototype is built to verify the output characteristics of the proposed magnetic coupling structure. Compared to the magnetic coupler with the unipolar planar coil, it is validated by experiment that the proposed magnetic coupler substantially enhances the stability of power transmission efficiency and output power when axial misalignment occurs. The power transmission efficiency decreases by 6.74% when axial misalignment increases from 0 to 40 mm in saltwater. Meanwhile, the variation of output power is less than 4.15%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Equipment for Underwater Robots)
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20 pages, 15071 KiB  
Article
Sliding Mode Control with Feedforward Compensation for a Soft Manipulator That Considers Environment Contact Constraints
by Yinglong Chen, Qiang Sun, Jia Wang, Junhao Zhang, Pengyu Zhao and Yongjun Gong
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(7), 1438; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11071438 - 18 Jul 2023
Viewed by 908
Abstract
Soft manipulators have desirable environmental compatibility because of their pliability. However, this pliability also brings challenges to modeling and control when considering contact or collision with the environment. In previous work, we established several mathematical models for describing fluidic soft manipulators under environmental [...] Read more.
Soft manipulators have desirable environmental compatibility because of their pliability. However, this pliability also brings challenges to modeling and control when considering contact or collision with the environment. In previous work, we established several mathematical models for describing fluidic soft manipulators under environmental effects and verified their accuracy. However, the controller design for a soft manipulator is still a significant challenge, especially under the conditions of environmental contact. In this paper, we build upon our previously established work by conducting feedforward compensation for a soft manipulator under contact constraints and designing a sliding mode controller based on an operational space dynamics model. Then, we combine the feedforward compensation model with the sliding mode controller to realize accurate position control of the soft manipulator. Finally, simulation and experimental results show that this controller can accurately and effectively control the position of the soft manipulator. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Equipment for Underwater Robots)
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20 pages, 7325 KiB  
Article
Semi-Active Heave Compensation for a 600-Meter Hydraulic Salvaging Claw System with Ship Motion Prediction via LSTM Neural Networks
by Fengrui Zhang, Dayong Ning, Jiaoyi Hou, Hongwei Du, Hao Tian, Kang Zhang and Yongjun Gong
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(5), 998; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11050998 - 08 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1247
Abstract
Efficiently salvaging shipwrecks is of the utmost importance for safeguarding shipping safety and preserving the marine ecosystem. However, traditional methods find it difficult to salvage shipwrecks in deep water. This article presents a novel salvage technology that involves multiple hydraulic claws for directly [...] Read more.
Efficiently salvaging shipwrecks is of the utmost importance for safeguarding shipping safety and preserving the marine ecosystem. However, traditional methods find it difficult to salvage shipwrecks in deep water. This article presents a novel salvage technology that involves multiple hydraulic claws for directly catching and lifting a 2500-ton shipwreck at 600 m depth. To ensure lifting stability, a semi-active heave compensation (SAHC) system was employed for each lifter to mitigate the effects of sea waves. However, the response delays arising from the hydraulic, control, and filtering systems resist the heave compensation performance. Predicting the barge motion to mitigate measuring and filtering delays and achieve leading compensation is necessary for the salvage. Therefore, a multivariate long short-term memory (LSTM) based neural network was trained to forecast the barge’s heave and pitch motions, exhibiting satisfactory results for the next 5 s. According to the results of numerical simulations, the proposed LSTM-based motion predictive SAHC system demonstrates remarkable effectiveness in compensating for shipwreck motion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Equipment for Underwater Robots)
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19 pages, 5277 KiB  
Article
MPC-Based Collaborative Control of Sail and Rudder for Unmanned Sailboat
by Shuo Liu, Zijing Yu, Tao Wang, Yifan Chen, Yu Zhang and Yong Cai
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(2), 460; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020460 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1538
Abstract
In the traditional motion control method of an unmanned sailboat, the sail and rudder are divided into two independent controllers. The sail is used to obtain the thrust and the rudder is used to adjust the yaw angle. The traditional control method does [...] Read more.
In the traditional motion control method of an unmanned sailboat, the sail and rudder are divided into two independent controllers. The sail is used to obtain the thrust and the rudder is used to adjust the yaw angle. The traditional control method does not consider the synergy between the two controllers and ignores the influence of the roll angle on sailing. It is easy for these methods to cause an excessive roll angle and large yaw angle error, which will weaken the safe navigation and accurate path tracking of an unmanned sailboat. This paper presents a collaborative control method of sail and rudder based on model predictive control. A four-degree-of-freedom kinematics and dynamics model of the unmanned sailboat considering roll angle was established, with the yaw angle and roll angle as the control objectives at the same time. The collaborative control method outputs sail angle and rudder angle simultaneously. By comparing the motion of this method and the separation control of sail and rudder under the same wind field conditions, it is verified that the collaborative control has better effects of yaw angle control and roll angle limitation and can obtain a more accurate path tracking effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Equipment for Underwater Robots)
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