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Development of a Biomimetic Underwater Robot for Bottom Inspection of Marine Structures

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Abstract

Underwater inspection of marine structures is important to ensure the safety and integrity of infrastructure; however, stable exploration using conventional underwater robots is limited because of various factors such as biofouling and currents. This study focuses on inspecting the surface under a marine structure. To inspect the surfaces covered with biofouling, a biomimetic underwater robot for inspection of marine structures (BRIM) with swimming, walking, and obstacle-negotiation capabilities was developed. The design parameters for walking on uneven terrain were adjusted, and a gait was developed to push aside obstacles that obstruct the view. Simulations of the dynamic models were implemented and stability measures of walking with various attitudes were computed to verify the proposed method. The feasibility of the robot in real-life scenarios was verified by performing unit and feasibility tests inside a water tank, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Convergence IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Korea

    Seokyong Song, Taesik Kim & Young-woon Song

  2. Samsung Research, Samsung Electronics, Robot Center, Seoul, 06765, Korea

    Juhwan Kim

  3. Son-Cheol Yu is with the Division of Advanced Nuclear Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Korea

    Son-Cheol Yu

Authors
  1. Seokyong Song
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Correspondence to Son-Cheol Yu.

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The authors declare that there is no competing financial interest or personal relationship that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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This research was supported by the Korea Institute of Marine Science and Technology Promotion(KIMST) funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries(20220188).

Seokyong Song received his B.S. degree from the Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Convergence IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea.

Juhwan Kim received his B.E. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Convergence IT Engineering from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea, in 2015 and 2023, respectively. Since 2023, he has been a Staff Engineer with the Robot Center, Samsung Research, Samsung Electronics, Seoul, Korea.

Taesik Kim received his B.E. degree in mechanical engineering from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Korea. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Convergence IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea.

Young-woon Song received his B.S. degree from the Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea, in 2019, where he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in convergence IT engineering.

Son-Cheol Yu received his M.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Ocean and Environmental Engineering, the University of Tokyo, in 2000 and 2003, respectively. He is currently a Professor at the Division of Advanced Nuclear Engineering, Department of Convergence IT Engineering and Electrical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea.

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Song, S., Kim, J., Kim, T. et al. Development of a Biomimetic Underwater Robot for Bottom Inspection of Marine Structures. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 21, 4041–4056 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-023-0250-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-023-0250-9

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