Hydrodynamics Simulation and Analysis of an Underwater Manipulator

In this paper, the application of Simscape of Matlab software for simulation and modeling of underwater manipulators (UMs) is introduced. Different fluid forces such as buoyancy, drag, lift, added mass, and vortex shedding that affect the efficiency of UMs can be modeled by Simscape. The effect of coupling between the underwater vehicle (UV) and UM and its effect on the torque of each joint can be observed. Therefore, the simulation can be useful for the design of UMs in terms of defining the required torque of the actuators and links's material and strength. To show the effect of fluid force and coupling effects on the torque of the joints, a 3-DOF UM with three links and three joints is simulated, and the effect of each fluid force on the torque of the joints is defined.