Gaze Controlled Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to Improve Accessibility in Maritime Robotics

Underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are commonly operated with joystick-style controllers, but users with upper limb disabilities may find using a joystick either difficult or impossible due to partial or complete loss of function of their hands. Eye gaze control is a method that allows individuals to control a vehicle, device, or application without the use of their hands. It is often intended for those with a disability, but the method can also be used by those without a disability for hands-free operation. Past work on vehicle gaze control has focused primarily on land and aerial vehicles, and has yet to be extended into the field of maritime robotics. This paper discusses a method for gaze controlled underwater ROVs based on ArduSub and MAVLink, with transferability to other vehicle types using ArduPilot. The result of this method is a single script that provides the ability to control a tethered ROV via eye gaze in the directions of ‘up,’ ‘down,’ ‘left yaw,’ ‘right yaw,’ ‘forward,’ and ‘reverse,’ in addition to controlling the vehicle’s lights and arming/disarming the vehicle. In-water demonstrations show successful operation of a gaze controlled ROV with no perceptible time delay.