Ryosuke Kobayashi

Development of hovering control system for an underwater vehicle to perform core internal inspections

In this paper, a hovering control system for an underwater vehicle is proposed to support core internal inspections. The system adopted a localization part and a thruster control part. The former utilizes a map-matching method, referring cross-sectional shape data cut from a three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD) and structural shapes measured by a laser range system for horizontal positioning. A pressure sensor provides vertical positioning. The latter utilizes the thrust vector control, or reference thrust vectors are converted to each propeller thrust based on the vehicles geometric structure. Experiments to evaluate performance of the proposed system were implemented at a mock-up of the reactor bottom part. As a result, it was confirmed that the position was detected with an accuracy of 48 mm, and for a flow velocity of 200 mm/s, it was verified that the vehicle hovered within 77 mm of a target point. Therefore, core internal inspections can be stably carried out even where there is external force caused by water convection flow.

Development of a swim-type ROV for narrow space inspection

ABSTRACT The swim-type remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for inspection of narrow spaces in nuclear power plants has been developed. Many structures are crowded in a confined space at regular intervals in the bottom area of a reactor. So, the thickness of the ROV shape is an important design point to ensure that the ROV can move in the space. The developed ROV has a three-dimensional swimming mechanism using six thrusters, three cameras for observing the position while moving and for making inspections easily, and a localization system. The localization system combines two elements: a gyroscope to detect the progression direction; and a slit laser that detects the progression distance using the optical cutting method. The localization method is called the modified inertial navigation (MIN) method and it was evaluated in a mock-up examination. The ROV was able to move smoothly using the MIN method and its position could be detected without making a mistake in the route followed.

Development of localization system using ultrasonic sensor for an underwater robot to survey narrow environment

ABSTRACT This paper describes a localization system for a swimming robot to survey underwater narrow environments. In that environment, external sensors cannot be set up to localize the robot position, as there are many structures and the robot moves three-dimensionally. Therefore, the position needs to be calculated only by internal sensors. In this work, a new localization method based on map-matching is proposed, referring to cross-sectional shape data cut from a three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) data as an environmental map and structural shapes measured by a range sensor. As a range sensor, an ultrasonic sensor which is two-dimensional scanning-type was developed. The reflected signals of the ultrasonic sensor have some noise. Only structural shape data are extracted from the reflected signals. The image correlation is used as the matching method. Experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed system were implemented at a mock-up environment. As a result, it was confirmed that the position was detected with an accuracy of 100 mm. The error is mainly caused by measurement error of the ultrasonic sensor that is used to calculate structural shapes. We concluded to improve the measurement accuracy of the ultrasonic sensor to reduce localization error.