The survey of an underwater part of ships is the mandatory procedure by rules of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Periodic cleaning of the ship’s hull from biofouling increases efficiency of its motion. Inspection of the underwater part of the ship during afloat is currently carried out by divers with the underwater video system, devices for non-destructive testing of hull structures, and tools for cleaning surfaces from products of biological fouling and corrosion. The purpose of this study was to develop a new technical tool for remote surveying and cleaning of ship’s hull using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with underwater laser cleaning equipment. The design of the vehicle for inspection and laser cleaning of ships has been developed during the research. The algorithms for trajectory controlling of the vehicle over the hull surface based on wheel and propulsion system has been proposed. The navigation data for the trajectory planning was received from combination of wheel and visual odometry. The proposed technical solutions allow the hull of the ship to be inspected and cleaned effectively and safely without being placed in the dry dock as well as to quickly assess the condition of the surface with the binding of the results to the ship’s drawing.

This paper presents the development of the new small-sized high-maneuverable remotely operated vehicle. The main scope of the vehicle is survey of shipwrecks. The main feature of the vehicle is variable restoring moment achieved by the rotated ring with the ballast in the transverse plane of the vehicle. This feature augmented with low value of own restoring moment and the overactuated propulsion system consisting of four vehicle and four horizontal thrusters allows high range of maneuverability to be achieved. The vehicle is equipped with the built-in lithium-ion battery. This feature reduces tether weight and allows automatic emergency return functions of the vehicle to the coast station in the case of cable damage to be implemented. The design rationale of the vehicle and the systems integration diagram are presented in the article. The design rationale of the variable restoring moment mechanism is described. The software based on modern development of Institute of Marine Technology problem FEB RAS and Far Eastern Federal University are presented.

Periodic cleaning of a hull from biofouling provides high efficiency motion of a vessel. Inspection and cleaning of the underwater part of the vessel afloat is usually carried out by divers aimed with an underwater video system, non-destructive devices for hull structures monitoring, as well as tools for cleaning surfaces from biological fouling and corrosion products. The aim of the study was to develop a new technical tool for remote survey and cleaning of vessels based on the remotely operated uninhabited underwater vehicle (ROV) with build-in underwater laser cleaning equipment. As a result of the research, the prototype of an underwater robotic inspection and laser cleaning system for vessels afloat was designed and developed. The experimental results of the motion control system of the ROV with a hybrid propulsion system both in air and under water are presented. The efficiency of the laser cleaning equipment in stand-alone mode and as part of the vehicle was confirmed. The technical solutions obtained during the development of presented cleaning system allow efficiently and safely inspecting and cleaning the hull without docking of the vessel to be conducted.

One way to extend the functionality of autonomous underwater vehicle is to use a surface buoy-repeater that provides a high-speed data exchange channel between the operator station and AUV in real time. Also, the data of the receiver of the satellite navigation system of the buoy make it possible to correct errors accumulated by the on-board navigation system of the device without using hydroacoustic navigation devices. The report presents the design stages of the towed radio buoy, its composition and functional diagram, structural appearance and some results of field tests.

No abstract