Pool testing of AUV visual servoing for autonomous inspection

Servoing methods were developed to enable inspection of underwater structures by autonomous vehicles in industrial oil & gas context. Pipeline following and planar object tracking were targeted, using video camera as the principal sensor. A non-linear inner-loop control was used to stabilise the complex dynamics of the vehicle. Pipeline following and planar target tracking were successfully tested in October and November 2014 on Girona 500 vehicle in a simple pool mock-up environment.