Underwater Manipulator Control for Single Pilot ROV Control

Abstract

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are the main driver in inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) of underwater structures. The commercial use of ROVs in industrial applications dates to the 1980s, however, the control and operation of work class ROVs for performing IMR interventions still carried out by the team of minimum two expert ROV pilots, despite the immense efforts to automate the operation of ROVs in the last decades. This paper provides a new approach to automation of ROV operation by considering the needs of the ROV pilots. To this end, a new controller is presented enabling the subsea IMR operations with a presence of a single pilot. The results are tested using a residential work class ROVs in Snorre B (SNB) oilfield by an expert Pilot.