An open-source control software to the virtual submerged floating operational system (VSFOS)

Virtual submerged floating operational system (VSFOS), built in the laboratory environment, consisted of an ABB robot, the IRC5 controller, a six-degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) parallel robotic motion platform, an inertial navigation sensor and a real-time industrial computer, can make it possible to do all kinds of underwater operational simulation experiments very easily and expediently. In this paper, an open-source control software to the VSFOS is introduced, this software, which is compatible with all the ABB robots that use IRC5 controller, works as a remote-control end to the VSFOS, it can not only receive and analyze the data collected by the inertial navigation sensor, but also “talks to” the IRC5 controller and “tells” the robot how to work, no need of any other input devices that matches the robot or to obtain the communication protocol of the robot, that is, this software can break the communication blockade of traditional industrial manipulator, and expand the real-time control methods of the manipulator. Finally, simulation experiments of the VSFOS have been done to test the feasibility and stability of the software.