A Novel Autonomous Docking Method of Unmanned Marine Vehicle Based on Manipulator

To extend underwater duration is an important issue for autonomous underwater vehicles. Limited duration restricts the working ability of an unmanned marine vehicle (UMV) and needs frequent surface support. One of the solutions to this problem is docking that can implement functions as recharging, data exchange, maintaining and so on. A novel docking method based on manipulator assistance is carried out. In this method, a fixed handle near docking port is caught by the manipulator on the vehicle firstly. The manipulator can be controlled to obtain the vehicles body a suitable position and orientation for autonomous docking. The manipulator with floating based can be looked on as one serial manipulator with a fixed anchor. The kinematics analysis is given by using the MATLAB and ADAMS. The simulation results suggest that docking method has more stability and accuracy, and it can also reduce the collision between docking port and the vehicle. The method provides a conception of docking process between all kinds of unman marine vehicles and docking ports.