The eyeball ROV: Design and control of a spherical underwater vehicle steered by an internal eccentric mass

A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is developed for use in the inspection of underwater structures in hazardous environments. The vehicle presented can change orientation like an eyeball using a novel gimbal mechanism for moving an internal eccentric mass. Combined with a pair of thrusters, the Eyeball ROV can move in any direction with non-holonomic constraints. In this paper the design concept is presented first, followed by dynamic and hydrodynamic analysis. Due to poor open loop stability characteristics, stability augmentation is implemented using onboard sensors and was designed and tested in simulation. A physical proof-of-concept prototype is also presented.