Control system of a novel underwater vehicle for global ocean science to the deepest ocean

A new remotely operated underwater vehicle-a hybrid ROV capable of working to the full depth of the ocean (11000m) has been developed. The battery powered vehicle operates in two modes. Basically, the vehicle is predominately operated fully remotely and video controlled via a light fiber optic cable. In a critical situation the fiber optic cable will be disconnected and the vehicle should switch automatically into the autonomous mode, returning to surface for recovery. If appropriate, the vehicle can also be used as a pre-programmed AUV for broad area survey from beginning. This paper presents the control system architecture of the vehicle including hardware and software. Also the lake trial and the full ocean depth simulation test are reported for verification of the effectiveness of the whole system.