• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.124-130
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• 2005

Obstacle avoidance of underwater robots based on a modified virtual force field algorithm is proposed in this paper. The VFF(Virtual Force Field) algorithm, which is widely used in the field of mobile robots, is modified for application to the obstacle avoidance of underwater robots. This Modified Virtual Force Field(MVFF) algorithm using the fuzzy lgoc can be used in moving obstacles avoidance. A fuzzy algorithm is devised to handle various situations which can be faced during autonomous navigation of underwater robots. The proposed obstacle avoidance algorithm has ability to handle multiple moving obstacles. Results of simulation show that the proposed algorithm can be efficiently applied to obstacle avoidance of the underwater robots.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.498-504
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• 2005

A fuzzy logic for collision avoidance of underwater robots is proposed in this paper. The VFF(Virtual Force Field) method, which is widely used in the field of mobile robots, is modified for application to the autonomous navigation of underwater robots. This Modified Virtual Force Field(MVFF) method using the fuzzy logic can be used in either track keeping or obstacle avoidance. Fuzzy logics are devised to handle various situations which can be faced during autonomous navigation of underwater robots. The obstacle avoidance algorithm has the ability to handle multiple static obstacles. Results of simulation show that the proposed method can be efficiently applied to obstacle avoidance of the underwater robots.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.238-244
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• 2021

Image mosaicking is a common and useful technique to visualize a global map by stitching a large number of local images obtained from visual surveys in underwater environments. In particular, visual inspection of underwater structures using underwater robots can be a potential application for image mosaicking. Feature-based pairwise image registration is a commonly employed process in most image mosaicking algorithms to estimate visual odometry information between compared images. However, visual features are not always uniformly distributed on the surface of underwater structures, and thus the performance of image registration can vary significantly, which results in unnecessary computations in image matching for poor-conditioned image pairs. This study proposes a pairwise registrability measure to select informative image pairs and to improve the overall computational efficiency of underwater image mosaicking algorithms. The validity and effectiveness of the image mosaicking algorithm considering the pairwise registrability are demonstrated using an experimental dataset obtained with a full-scale ship in a real sea environment.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.135-141
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• 2016

Recently, the needs for the development and application of marine robots are increasing as marine accidents occur frequently. However, it is very difficult to acquire the information by utilizing marine robots in the marine environment. Therefore, the needs for the researches of sensor networks which are composed of underwater, surface and aerial robots are increasing in order to acquire the information effectively as the information from heterogeneous robots has less limitation in terms of coverage and connectivity. Although various researches of the sensor network which is based on marine robots have been executed, all of the underwater, surface and aerial robots have not yet been considered in the sensor network. To solve this problem, a collaborative control method based on the acoustic information and image by the sonars of the underwater robot, the acoustic information by the sonar of the surface robot and the optical image by the camera of the static-floating aerial robot is proposed. To verify the performance of the proposed method, the collaborative control of a MUR(Micro Underwater Robot) with an OAS(Obstacle Avoidance Sonar) and a SSS(Side Scan Sonar), a MSR(Micro Surface Robot) with an OAS and a BMAR(Balloon-based Micro Aerial Robot) with a camera are executed. The test results show the possibility of real applications and the need for additional studies.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.189-200
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• 2015

This paper gives an overview on the some potential applications and key technologies of biomimetic underwater robot for naval operations. Unlike most manned underwater naval systems, biomimetic underwater robots can be especially useful in near-land or harbour areas due to their ability to operate in shallow water effectively. Biomimetic underwater robot provide advantages in reaching locations that would be difficult or too dangerous for a manned vehicle to reach, as well as providing a level of autonomy that can remove the requirement for dedicated human operator support. Using multiple or schools of underwater robots would provide increased flexibility for navigation, communication and surveillance ability. And it alleviate some of the restrictions associated with speed and endurance design constraints.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2020

This paper describes a method for tracking attitude and position of underwater robots. Underwater work with underwater robots is subject to differences in work efficiency depending on the skill of the operator and the utilization of additional sensors. Therefore, this study developed an underwater robot that can operate autonomously and maintain a certain attitude when working underwater to reduce difference of work efficiency. The developed underwater robot uses 8 thrusters to control 6 degrees of freedom motion, IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), DVL (Doppler Velocity Log) and PS (Pressure Sensor) to measure attitude and position. In addition, the thruster allocation algorithm was designed to follow the control desired value using 8 thrusters, and the motion control experiments were performed in the engineering water basin using the thruster allocation method.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.142-149
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• 2012

The camera has limitations of poor visibility in underwater environment due to the limited light source and medium noise of the environment. However, its usefulness in close range has been proved in many studies, especially for navigation. Thus, in this paper, vision-based object detection and tracking techniques using artificial objects for underwater robots have been studied. We employed template matching and mean shift algorithms for the object detection and tracking methods. Also, we propose the weighted correlation coefficient of adaptive threshold -based and color-region-aided approaches to enhance the object detection performance in various illumination conditions. The color information is incorporated into the template matched area and the features of the template are used to robustly calculate correlation coefficients. And the objects are recognized using multi-template matching approach. Finally, the water basin experiments have been conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed techniques using an underwater robot platform yShark made by KORDI.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.259-266
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• 2012

In these days, researches about underwater robots have been actively in progress for the purposes of ocean detection and resource exploration. Unlike general underwater robots such as ROV(Remotely Operated Vehicle) and AUV(Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) which have propellers, an articulated underwater robot which is called Crabster has been being developed in KORDI(Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute) with many cooperation organizations since 2010. The robot is expected to be able to walk and swim under the sea with its legs. Among many researching fields of this project, we are focusing on a swimming section. In order to find effective swimming locomotion for the robot, we approached this subject in terms of Biomimetics. As a model of optimized swimming organism in nature, diving beetles were chosen. In the paper, swimming motions of diving beetles were analyzed in viewpoint of robotics for applying them into the swimming motion of the robot. After modeling the kinematics of diving beetle through robotics engineering technique, we obtained swimming patterns of the one of living diving beetles, and then compared them with calculated optimal swimming patterns of a robot leg. As the first trial to compare the locomotion data of legs of the diving beetle with a robot leg, we have sorted two representative swimming patterns such as forwarding and turning. Experimental environment has been set up to get the motion data of diving beetles. The experimental equipment consists of a transparent aquarium and a high speed camera. Various swimming motions of diving beetles were recorded with the camera. After classifying swimming patterns of the diving beetle, we can get angular data of each joint on hind legs by image processing software, Image J. The data were applied to an optimized algorithm for swimming of a robot leg which was designed by robotics engineering technique. Through this procedure, simulated results which show trajectories of a robot leg were compared with trajectories of a leg of a diving beetle in desired directions. As a result, we confirmed considerable similarity in the result of trajectory and joint angles comparison.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.303-310
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• 2017

Underwater robots operating in constrained underwater environment have requirements for software systems. Firstly, it is necessary to provide reusable common software components for hardware interface of sensors and actuators that are frequently used in underwater robots. Secondly, it is required to support distributed execution environment on multiple embedded controllers. Thirdly, it is need to implement a monitoring system capable of high-speed and large-data transmission for underwater robots operating in an environment where it is difficult to check the robot status. For these requirements, we have designed the layered architecture pattern and applied several design patterns to enhance the reusability and the maintainability of software components, In addition, we overlaid the broker architecture pattern to support distributed execution environments. Finally, we implemented the underwater robot software system using ROS framework based on the software architecture design. In order to evaluate the performance of the implemented software system, we performed an experiment to measure the response time between components and the transmission rate of the monitoring data, and obtained the results satisfying the required performance.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.64-74
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• 2022

A number of studies related to underwater robots are being conducted to utilize marine resources. However, unlike ordinary drones, underwater robots have a problem that it is not easy to locate because the medium is water, not air. The monitoring and positioning program of underwater robots, an existing study for identifying underwater locations, has difficulty in locating and monitoring in small spaces because it aims to be utilized in large spaces. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a three-dimensional positioning program for continuous monitoring and command delivery in small spaces. The proposed program consists of a multi-dimensional positioning monitoring function and a ability to control the path of travel through a three-dimensional screen so that the depth of the underwater robot can be identified. Through the performance evaluation, a robot underwater could be monitored and verified from various angles with a 3D screen, and an error within the assumed range was verified as the difference between the set path and the actual position is within 6.44 m on average.