A Wireless Remotely Operated Vehicle Using Acoustic Communication

AbstractFor decades, numerous remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) having different shapes and sizes have been designed and implemented. An ROV is typically tethered to a mother ship to obtain power and exchange data. Among ROVs, small-sized ROVs, which can take the place of divers, support a limited working range and consume low power for operation. Since the umbilical cables are troublesome for the movements of ROVs, this paper discusses the design and implementation of a prototype of a small-sized ROV operated by wireless acoustic communication. To support the mobility of the ROV, an acoustic modem equipped with omnidirectional beam pattern was developed. The implemented modem and wireless ROV were tested in a water tank and outdoor environments to verify functional operations and the feasibility for real applications.