When carrying out sampling tasks close to the ocean bottom, a ROV keeps station at a fixed position and compensates the tether effects and currents. However, the operation of ROV thrust propellers for station keeping might stir up sediment and cause poor visibility, which forces ROV operators to stop work until the sediment clears. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to design and fabricate a seafloor moving platform able to approach steadily to sampling objects without stirring up much sediment. This moving platform must be combined with the second generation NCKU-NSYSU ROV, a sampling manipulator, and a sample storage apparatus. Also, the moving platform requires some capabilities for travel over relatively smooth seafloor. A wheel-driven mobile platform, as a result, is developed, in which the front wheels and rear wheels are respectively driven by two separately provided DC motors. The required power and serial command signals are transmitted to the platform via the second generation NCKU-NSYSU ROV. A four-bar linkage for steering font wheels is designed to work close to the Ackerman condition, and a chain-and-sprocket drive train is used to transfer power to the rear wheels. The motor controllers used for controlling DC motors are constructed based on MSP430 MCU (Micro Controller Unit). The preliminary driving performance of the platform is tested. The testing results indicate that the moving platform can drive steadily and behave as expected.

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The acquisition of marine survey data is traditionally undertaken from surface vessels including boats and temporary rigs. Translation of these techniques to the nearshore zone is a complex task and requires equipment adaptation and. often the sacrifice of data coverage. The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) offers the potential for overcoming some of the standard nearshore survey Concems, providing remote intervention and data acquisition in areas of restricted access. In situ testing is the most efficient and reliable method of acquiring data with minimal sediment disturbance effects. Research has been undertaken into the viability of nearshore cone penetration testing (CPT) which has shown the T-Bar flow round penetrometer to be a possible solution. Data could be acquired in sediments with undrained shear strengths of up to 300 kPa from a bottom crawling ROV weighing 260 kgf and measuring 1 m in length by 0.6 m in width. The collection of sediment cores may be necessary in areas requiring ground truthing for geophysical or in situ investigations. A pneumatic piston corer has been designed and manufactured and is capable of collecting sediment cores up to 400 mm in length, 38 mm in diameter, in sediment with undrained shear strength of 17 kPa. To ascertain additional sediment characteristics in situ, a resistivity subbottom profiling system has also been designed and tested and allows for discrimination between sediment types ranging in size from gravel to silt. The integration of equipment and testing procedures can be fiirther developed through the use of integrated data management approaches such as geographical information systems (GIS). An offthe- shelf GIS, Arclnfo 8, was used to create a GIS containing typical nearshore data using the Dart estuary as a case study location.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 17-20, 1994 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / A remotely-operated ground telemetry tracking and receiving station is described. The station, operating in a space-diversity mode, is capable of reception and tracking both at VHF and at UHF. The station can be configured and operated from a distance of 240 km using a wide-band land data link. Uplink command at VHF is included as part of the station.

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When evaluating the benefits of the artificial reefs, the generally is performed by sending divers or using Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV). But to do the observation work, the deep sea is too dangerous for human being to work longer time, and ROV has no capable navigation system. So underwater survey became difficulty. The thesis integrates LXT Tracking System, Global Positioning System, Motion Sensor, Gyro Compass and the ROV original sensors such as : pressure sensor and magnetic compass to resolve the navigation problem of ROV, together with the high-density data of Multibeam echo sounder to rebuild the status of the seabed and artificial reefs. The thesis tries to apply the technology of Virtual Reality (VR) in ROV to being the interface. The results demonstrate the VR interface can display the position of ROV in three-dimensional space actually. And it can show the position of ROV navigation and warning message in real time when sailing. So the VR Navigation System will improve the ability of operating ROV greatly.

ITC/USA 2014 Conference Proceedings / The Fiftieth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 20-23, 2014 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA / This paper discusses the rover engagement display (RED), an application that integrates network communication, control systems, numerical and visual analysis of telemetry, and a graphical user interface for communicating with the embedded systems of a remote vehicle. The target vehicle is a wheeled rover participating in the University Rover Challenge, a competition that observes the performance of rovers in an environment similar to that of the planet Mars. Communication with the rover occurs via a TCP connection and messages adhere to a simple protocol. The RED user interface is visually modular in an attempt to provide additional scalability and extensibility. Control algorithms, user interface design concepts, and code architecture (C#) are discussed.

For decades, Remotely Operated underwater Vehicles (ROVs) have been helping mankind explore the depths of the ocean, and build and maintain infrastructure on the seafloor. Since the first ROV was developed in 1953, the number of uses for these vehicles has exploded. They are now an essential part of maintaining the world's energy resources, collecting scientific data about our oceans, and performing underwater search and recovery. This research will discuss guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for use as a low-level position controller for ROVs, which will enable semi-autonomous behaviour for the vehicle. Semi-autonomous behaviour is when the pilot issues high-level position commands and the low-level controller handles station keeping and maneuvering between the commanded positions. In this configuration, the low level controller compensates for the environmental disturbances and unknown dynamics (such as current and tether dynamics), allowing the pilot to focus on other aspects of the task (such as manipulator control). In this work, the design,implementation,and testing of a complete guidance, navigation, and control system is presented. A Saab Sea-Eye Falcon ROV is augmented with a suite of navigation instruments. The augmented vehicle is characterized and a dynamic model is developed. This model is used in an extended Kalman filter, which will be shown to produce a position estimate for the vehicle with an error of less than ±6 cm. The navigation system is combined with a guidance system and adaptive controller to enable semi-autonomous behaviour. With this suite of software, the ROV can operate semi-autonomously. The resulting ROV system is a research platform, from which the underwater community can continue research into algorithms for optimal control, remote operations, and other performance enhancing technologies. / Graduate / 0771 / 0547 / allycin2@gmail.com