A Preliminary Test on Agent based Docking System for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

This paper addresses an automation method of underwater tasks using AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles). An AUV has a small agent vehicle to connect to an underwater docking station which is connected with operators. If the agent docks, the operator can fully monitor and control the AUV as an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicles). Under human supervision, it can carry out complicated tasks such as underwater manipulations. If the agent undocks and is recovered, the AUV navigates as an untethered vehicle. In order to evaluate the proposed docking system, an experimental agent and a docking device were developed. For efficient and reliable docking, a visual landmark and a smart cable-based docking method were developed. A preliminary docking test was carried out at an indoor tank to evaluate the proposed docking system.