Development of the control system for a wave driven glider

Abstract

Abstract The wave driven glider is a kind of unmanned ocean surface vehicle solely powered by waves and solar energy, which allows marine monitoring in large temporal and spatial scales. Therefore, it has a broad application prospect in ocean survey and observation. This paper focuses on the development of the control system for the wave driven glider. The hardware distribution and the robot operating system based software framework are developed. The sailing control strategies corresponding to position keeping, path following and heading control are presented and validated by numerical experiments. Moreover, the wave driven glider named “SJTU Mouse” were developed, including the first generation based on side propeller control and the second generation based on rudder control. Besides, the Wave Glider Remote Control & Management Platform (WGRCMP) was developed. Sea trials were also conducted in the South China Sea. Results show that, with the proposed control system, the wave driven glider can adapt to different mission and ensure successful vehicle operations, demonstrating the feasibility and applicability of the control system.