Vision-Based Modelling and Control of Small Underwater Vehicles

Modelling and control of underwater vehicles in most cases, demand their hydrodynamic parameters’ identification, which is a timely and technically demanding task. Therefore, more convenient methods of utilising vision systems have been introduced. However, many solutions presented in the literature assume that a camera is mounted in the central part of a swimming pool. What is more, they are not applicable for trajectory determination, which constitutes an essential factor in devising a control system of autonomous vehicles. For that reason, a computer vision system has been designed and developed, which enables tracking a vehicle and determining its trajectory as well. The obtained results indicate that the developed system enables modelling and control of underwater vehicles under laboratory conditions.