Highly maneuverable spherical robots for underwater applications

Abstract

The direct video inspection of complex underwater systems, like those inside nuclear reactors, is a difficult task to accomplish. Alternatives to underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) inspection are very laborious, if possible at all. Current ROVs have difficulty navigating and effectively surveying these systems because walls and extrusions throughout the environment easily damage the external appendages that propel and steer the robots. These damages will often times render the robot useless, leaving it stranded. Continuing off previous work designing externally smooth robots with uniquely designed internalized mechanical components, this work explores the design of new, spherical robots. There exist many benefits to the spherical geometry of vehicles. With zero added mass and identical dynamics moving in all directions, the maneuvering capabilities of these robots are extremely high, making them easy to control and inspect many complex underwater systems.