Optimal configuration and parametric design of an underwater vehicle manipulator system for a valve task

Abstract

An underwater vehicle manipulator system (UVMS) has several applications including mining, exploring, and building underwater structures. The current study presents a method to design and optimize an UVMS configuration by measuring the performance of various design alternatives. The concept of a dual-arm manipulator was proposed, and a design alternative was developed for the dual-arm manipulator. Additionally, modified dynamic manipulability that considers hydrodynamic effects was selected to measure the performance of design alternatives. Each alternative was optimized by using a genetic algorithm to maximize dynamic manipulability through a desired task. Optimized alternatives were compared, and the optimal design of a dual-arm manipulator was selected from the alternatives. The proposed method considered hydrodynamic effects on an UVMS to design and optimize a dual-arm UVMS.