A Unified Approach to Modeling and Simulation of Underwater Vehicle Multi-Manipulator Systems

Abstract

In this article, the model of a family of underwater vehicle multi-manipulator systems (UVMMS) is obtained by considering all its elements as parts of a unique system, the model includes the forces produced on the manipulators by the movement of the vehicle, as well as the reaction forces on the vehicle produced by the movement of the manipulators. The modeling process is completed using the Newton–Euler approach through the mobile arborescent kinematic chain. This work also presents different approaches to the use of numerical implementations of the proposed model, and simulation results are included to demonstrate that the model is capable to represent the interaction between the vehicle and the manipulators. The proposed model and simulations are important because they allow the design of control strategies that consider all the elements of the system instead of neglecting the interaction forces or considering the vehicle and the arms as uncoupled elements.

Keywords

• external forces
• mathematical modeling of underwater robots
• mathematical modeling of coupled systems
• underwater vehicle multi-manipulator system (UVMMS)