Intervention-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Multibody Models for Dynamic Manipulation Tasks

Free floating autonomous underwater manipulation is still an open research topic; an important challenge is offered by dynamic manipulation, where the vehicle maintains relevant velocities during manipulation tasks. To develop new control architectures, a precise modelling of the mechanisms involved in the manipulation tasks is needed. The focus of this paper is the multibody modelling and the control of an Intervention-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (I-AUV). An accurate model of the whole system has been developed, including vehicle-fluid interaction. A suitable 3D contact model has been developed for the contact between the gripper and the object to be manipulated. A control strategy for the whole I-AUV system is proposed, comprising a suitable grasp planning strategy. Finally, an evaluation of the I-AUV control system performances have been carried out.