Position control of a 3-link dual-arm underwater robot using model error compensator -Considering the difference in response speed between a vehicle and manipulators-

Research and development efforts are ongoing to control underwater robots equipped with manipulators (known as Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator Systems, or UVMS) that can perform underwater tasks in place of humans. We have also proposed a Resolved Acceleration Control (RAC) method, a position control approach for UVMS, and have validated its usefulness through experiments using a free-floating, 3-link dual-arm underwater robot. Now, the model of fluid forces used to control underwater robots has modeling errors. Furthermore, the response speed of the vehicle is much slower than that of the manipulator. To solve these problems, we propose a RAC method for UVMS with MEC, which takes into account the difference in response speed between the vehicle and manipulator, and demonstrate its effectiveness through experiments on the position control of a robot affected by periodic wave disturbances.