Docking technique for manta-type UUV and its experimental studies in water tank environment

We present an underwater docking technique for a manta-type unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) which is under development in Korea Institute of Robot and Convergence (KIRO). The manta-type UUV is a test-bed vehicle for demonstrating an autonomous docking technique in the water tank [1]. There are two cameras mounted in front of the vehicle for vision-based underwater localization around docking station. There is a range sonar array mounted in front of the vehicle. This sonar is used for obstacle avoidance, and also can be used as a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) solution in a partially known environment. In this paper, we show the results of a remote docking experimentation performed in the water tank for the manta-type UUV. From the results, we verify the docking performance of a manta-type UUV and applicability of the developed docking station.