Dynamic motion of crawler-type ROV

A crawler system as a mobility function on the seafloor has the possibility to expand the activity of research and development on the irregular terrain and on the sand seafloor. To improve the mobility function, a flipper-type crawler system was developed. In addition, the dynamic motion of the crawler system investigation is important to realize the activity there because characteristic parameters in water such as buoyancy and hydrodynamic forces will considerably affect and lower the mobility. Actually, wheelie and slip were observed in preliminary experiments despite having been able to run stably on land. This paper also describes the theoretical and experimental studies evaluating the mobility performance and the effect of parameters on it.