Development and implementation of a low-level control system for the underwater remotely operated vehicle Visor3

This paper addresses the development and implementation of a low level control system for the underwater vehicle Visor3, developed by the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, located at Medellín, Colombia. Visor3 is an observation class ROV that was developed for surveillance and inspection of port facilities and underwater structures and has been used as a test platform for the development of robotic technology for underwater exploration of Colombian seas. Both, the control and navigation algorithms were implemented in the on-board processor (BeagleBone embedded computer). This processor is running an Ångström operating system which is a Linux distribution used in embedded devices with built-in components. The control and navigation algorithms were tested in a hardware in the loop (HIL) environment using a 6-DOF mathematical model of Visor3 before the real test. Results from the HIL simulation and experimental test are compared. Results show that the HIL is powerful tool for the NGC development of the ROV.