Preliminary experiments in visual servo control for autonomous underwater vehicle

Abstract

We are developing a visually-guided autonomous underwater vehicle. We have achieved a position-based visual servo control of fixed and slow moving targets using visual position feedback and sensor-based orientation feedback. The visual position feedback has been implemented on a stereo camera system. We use a compass and an inclinometer for orientation feedback. We have also implemented a computed torque controller using Euler parameters to represent the orientation state, for vehicle motion control. Using Euler parameters eliminates singularities in the model and the controller. Preliminary experimental results of visual servo control are reported. 1