Visually Realistic Graphical Simulation of Underwater Cable

Abstract

This paper presents different modeling considerations that are important in simulating visually realistic behavior of underwater cables attached to remotely operated vehicles. The proposed methodology has been tested on highly complex models of aquatic environments created using Unreal Engine 4. Current methods and implementations of cable simulations that are widely used in computer graphics are generally suited only to light density mediums such as air. In this paper, we present modifications to the above model required for simulating neutrally buoyant cables in underwater environments. The simulation results presented in this paper successfully demonstrate different behavioral aspects of flexible variable length underwater cables and their variations with respect to modeling parameters using our proposed method.

A Generalized Simulation Framework for Tethered Remotely Operated Vehicles in Realistic Underwater Environments

“…Section 3 covers simulation of underwater ROV dynamics. Section 4 discusses the simulation aspects of the tether attached to a ROV and to the launching platform that is a major part of an underwater ROV simulation (this topic is also covered in our previous work [9]). Section 5 outlines the creation of the underwater environment inside a game engine.…”

“…The next step after kinematics is the dynamics which deals with the forces applied in our system. Under the simplified assumption of incompressible fluids and non-turbulent flow and, e.g., small Reynolds number the drag force is proportional to the velocity and can be written as: (9) where the F D is the drag force, µ is a term representing the characteristics of the fluid and the shape of the object [15] and v is the linear velocity of the body. Under the same assumptions and in a very similar manner we define the rotational hydrodynamic drag torque as follows:…”

Self-management of the umbilical of a ROV for underwater exploration

“…So in the literature, the umbilical has been modeled and instrumented to provide a feedback on its position and shape. Two main categories of methods exist in the literature: the detection of the umbilical using vision [15,14,16] and/or sensor placed directly on/in the umbilical to obtain a feedback on its shape [10,7], or a direct modeling of the umbilical using only boat and ROV position [11,12,9], sometimes including an a-prior knowledge of the sea current. The main advantage of the first category is the accuracy of the estimated shape, often in real time.…”

Self-Management of ROV Umbilical Using Sliding Buoys and Stop

“…To provide a feedback on umbilical position and form, these ones can be modeled, equipped or instrumented. Two main categories of methods can be observed in the literature: the detection of the umbilical using vision [14], [15], [16] and/or sensor placed directly on/in the umbilical to obtain a feedback on its shape [7], [10], or a direct modeling of the umbilical using only boat and ROV position [11], [12], [9], sometimes with an a-prior knowledge of underwater current. The main advantage of the first category is the accuracy of the model obtained, often in real time.…”

“…Several methods exist to model the cable shape and dynamic, from the simplest geometrical model like catenary curve [19] or the chain of segments with geometrical constraints like in [11], to the finite-element methods [9]. Geometrical models are perfect to simulate a large number of segments in real-time and are memory efficient when an accurate physical model is not necessary.…”