A hybrid environment for the development of underwater mechatronic systems

This paper proposes a hybrid research environment consists of a virtual underwater-world simulator called MVS (multi-vehicle simulator) and a pair of actual test-bed underwater robots called Twin-Burger I and II. The MVS is able to produce virtual world information in real-time which can be customized for the robots´ workspace. In this environment, the robots can interact with the MVS via high speed serial communication link and behave as if they were swimming in the underwater-world even in the case they are deployed in a simple shaped testing-pool. This world which is virtually created using the sensory information of both the real and a virtual world is called “synthetic world”. By testing in the synthetic world, the efficiency of underwater systems´ development is improved because the software can be developed directly on the embedded computer system and the hardware/software cross-checking can be easily conducted. This paper shows the detailed descriptions and unique characteristics of the proposed research environment and the practical example of the software development for underwater robots