Pose-based and velocity-based approaches to autonomous inspection of subsea structures

This paper has presented approaches towards the problem of underwater autonomous structure inspection. It has analysed several approaches for the acoustic sensor analysis, showing advantages and disadvantages according to the type of environment. Two control strategies has been presented and analysed. One is velocity-based, the second one is pose-based. Finally, experimental results were presented, showing the results of tests at the Wave Tank, in Heriot-Watt University and the CMRE Waterfront. The achieved results showed robustness in presence of disturbances, like waves and currents.