Design and Development of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)

Abstract—Underwater inspection and monitoring play a vital role in marine research, offshore infrastructure maintenance, and environmental assessment. This work presents the design and development of a hybrid underwater robotic platform capable of operating both as an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). The system integrates an ESP32 microcontroller, HMC5883L magnetometer, ultrasonic sensor, RS775 thruster motors, L298N motor driver, and a waterproof camera to enable real-time navigation and visual inspection. A dual-mode control architecture is implemented: manual joystick-based maneuvering for ROV mode and sensor- driven navigation for AUV mode. Image-processing algorithms are incorporated to detect cracks, corrosion, and surface de- formation in underwater structures. Experimental evaluation demonstrates stable underwater movement, reliable obstacle detection up to X cm, and image-processing accuracy of X