Development and implementation of a dynamic simulator for a ship-hull inspection robotic vehicle

• Grant number: 12/01636-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2012
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering Design
• Principal Investigator: Juan Pablo Julca Avila
• Grantee: Daniel Santos de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Robotic Systems (SR) are being developed extensively in almost all fields these days. An example is the work developed at the Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC) which consists in a robotic SR for inspection of ship hulls. The SR is classified as a hybrid robot due to its two operating modes: free-flight and crawling which consists in a tubular structure made of polypropylene plates, a set of thrusters, a set of sensors and two motorized tracks, the latter for movement on the surface of the ship hull. An umbilical cable is used for motion control and supply energy to the vehicle. In order to provide a tool to help in the design of the control system of the SR, the present research project aims to develop and implement a simulator for the dynamic behavior of the vehicle. The simulator will display the 3D motion of the SR in a virtual ocean environment and allow the motion control by an operator using a joystick. The methodology considers the following steps: 1) mathematical modelling of the SR, 2) modelling of the actuation system, 3) implementation of mathematical equations in MATLAB / SIMULINK, 4) development and implementation of the virtual environment using the Virtual Reality Toolbox of the MATLAB, and 5) for simulations with closed loop control.(AU)