International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE)

Vol. 8, No. 5, October 2018, pp. 3325~3332

ISSN: 2088-8708, DOI: 10.11591/ijece.v8i5.pp3325-3332  3325

FIToplankton: Wireless Controlled Remotely-operated

Underwater Vehicle (ROV) for Shallow Water Exploration

Muhammad Ikhsan Sani1, Simon Siregar2, Aris Pujud Kurniawan3, M. Abid Irwan4
1,2
Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, Telkom University, Indonesia
3
Department of Computer System, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Telkom University, Indonesia
4
Department of Telecommunication Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, Telkom University, Indonesia

Article Info ABSTRACT

Article history: Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for underwater exploration is typically
controlled using umbilical cable connected to ground control station.
Received Nov 24, 2017 Unfortunately, while it’s used for power distribution and data transmission, it
Revised Feb 10, 2018 also obstruct the movement of ROV especially for shallow water (<50 cm).
Accepted Mar 3, 2018 This paper proposed an alternative method for controlling ROV using
wireless remote control system. This work also aims to explore the
possibility of using RF wireless technology between 420-450 MHz as
Keyword: underwater communication system. Furthermore, the control system was
used to manage actuators i.e. DC motor and bilge pump for maneuvring and
Communication picking small size cargo. To help the ROV to hold on a desired, Inertial
Control Measurement Unit (IMU) is installed on board ROV within maximum
Remotely-operated deviation 0.2 m/s2. The prototype of the system has been successfully
ROV implemented and evaluated to confirm the functionality and the feasibility of
Underwater the proposed approach.
Wireless
Copyright © 2018 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science.
All rights reserved.

Corresponding Author:
Muhammad Ikhsan Sani,
Department of Computer Engineering,
Faculty of Applied Science, Telkom University,
Jalan Telekomunikasi Terusan Buah Batu, Bandung 40257, Jawa Barat, Indonesia.
Email: [email protected]

1. INTRODUCTION
For years, several remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) have been designed and implemented with
different in shape and size. An ROV is typically tethered to a centralized platform ship to obtain power and
transmitting data. ROV may sometimes be called Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle to distinguish it
from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the air [1]. According to the Christ & Wernli (2013) [1],
an ROV can be described as a submersible platform with self-propelled capability whose operation is either
autonomous or manual control using data links such as a data cable. The ROV falls within a broad range of
mobile robotic vehicles generally termed “remotely controlled mobile robots.” The motion of the vehicle can
be via autonomous logic direction or remote operator control depending upon the vehicle’s capability and the
operator’s degree of input. Besides ROV, there is other type of underwater vehicle : Remotely Operated
Crawler (ROC). While ROV is not designed to directly contact with the seabed, ROC is operated on the
seabed to perform its task [2]
Azis. et al. (2012) [2] have described the advantages and disadvantages of ROV system in general
view. Some of disadvantages of ROV are the issue with its dependency to umbilical cable and difficulty to
access very shallow waters. Wiryadinata et. al. [3] have shown the method of ROV’s control using
Playstation joystick via UTP-based umbilical cable. The joystick serves as input signal’s platform to a
microcontroller. The signal that has been processed by a microcontroller will be sent to the motor driver to
drive a DC motor. Their ROV’s cable is designed using a a single strand of unshielded optical fiber for high

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3326  ISSN: 2088-8708

speed data line. Although, its possible that the umbilical cable can hinder and disturb the ROV’s movement
especially in very shallow water.
Wireless remote control systems have been widely used as a controlling method on ground-based
and aerial robot [4]. However, until recently only few researchers recently have carried out an experiment to
explore the possibility for controlling ROV using wireless control system especially using RF technology.
Some of their works are described as follow as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Basic ROV system [1]

Early work by Geol-Ju and Sung-Joon (2012) [5] has demonstrated a performance of prototype of a
small-sized ROV operated by wireless communication. They also have tested the protoype using modem in a
water tank and outdoor environments. Meanwhile, Lloret et. al (2012) [6] focused on the effect of depth and
temperature for underwater sensor’s data transmission using low frequency technology and acoustic. In their
literature, Benelli and Pozzebon (2013) [7] states that ROV can be controlled using electromagnetic energy
transmission capability through water. RF communications with underwater vehicles have a very limited
usage due to the high attenuation of RF waves through water. However, this can be useful for shallow water
and short range communication application.
Aras et. al. (2013) [8] state that beside the wireless control method it is also important to improve
the control system using motion sensor. It helps maintaining ROV on its desired position. The integrated
sensor combination has been developed and it consists of pressure sensor, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU),
digital compass and temperature sensor in a pressure hull that is purposely used to give a feedback to control
the movement of the ROV. The target of heave-axis motion is to maintain its stationary and stabilize point or
also called as “station keeping”. Campagnaro et. Al. (2014) [9] focused their research on exploring the
possibility of controlling a ROV using wireless control channel by optical, acoustic, and radio-frequency
underwater communication technologies, as a function of the distance between the transmitter and the
receiver.Meanwhile, previous work by Arumugaraja et. al (2015) [10] has demonstrated that 433 MHz RF
transceiver module can be utilized for ROV’s controlling on shallow water. From these information, we can
conclude that there is a possibilities for using wireless RF frequency for ROV controlling on shallow water.
This paper presents an alternative method for controlling ROV without using wireless radio
communication. This work aims to develop ROV that can be used on shallow water exploration. The rest of
this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes a literature review from related works conducted by
several researcher. The development of FIToplankton by Robotic-SAS team from Telkom University is
presented in section 3. Section 3 also details out the methodology of this project which includes system
identification and data acquisition technique. Section 4 describes result and discussion from the experiments.
Finally, section 5 shows the final remarks of conclusion.

2. RESEARCH METHOD
The FIToplankton project is divided into two major parts, hardware development and software
development:

2.1 Hardware Development

Hardware phase development is described as follow: 1) Literature review of ROV mechanic,
electronic and communication system, 2) Design and implementation communication device between ROV
and remote control system, 3) Evaluation and troubleshooting the ROV hardware system on water tank. The
first phase for developing the hardware is by having preliminary study and design the ROV structure, sensors
and related communication device. Figure 2 and 3 shows the ROV block diagram. This phase is focus on
how to choose the suitable sensors and also to know details about ROV construction and structure. The types

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of communication device also review on this phase. Meanwhile, the wireless remote control block diagram is
shown in Figure 4 and 5. The following are specifications for the designed system: 1) ROV would be able to
moving forward, backward, up, down, left, and right in the water, 2) Wireless communication system is used
on remote control, 3) Battery level measurements data will be sent to remote control, 4) ROV is designed
with relatively small size (29.6x26.66x15.5 cm). ROV system specification as shown in Table 1.

Figure 2. ROV block diagram

Figure 3. ROV implementation (a) concept design (b) ROV is operated underwater

Table 1. ROV System Specification

Part Name Specification
Microcontroller ATmega2560
APC 220, 420 – 450 MHz
Communication System
receiver module
2-Cell Li-Po Battery 7.4 V
Power Supply
500 mAH
10-DOF Inertial
Sensor
Measurement Unit (IMU)
Propulsion System 4 pieces DC Motor
Motor Driver L293D-based Motor Driver
Manipulator Bilge Pump
Dimension 29.6 x 26.66 x 15.5 cm

The remote control system is equipped by game console joystick for user interface. Arrow button
and analog joystick are served as direction control to move the ROV forward, backward, turn left and right.
The X-button is used to lower and raise the ROV. To activate bilge pump for taking the cargo, the square
must be pressed. Wireless control system as shown in Table 2.

FIToplankton: Wireless Controlled Remotely-Operated Underwater Vehicle… (Muhammad Ikhsan Sani)

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Table 2. Wireless Control System

Part Name Specification
Controller platform PS2 Joystick with analog button
APC 220, 420 – 450 MHz
Communication System
transmitter module
2-Cell Li-Po Battery 7.4 V 500
Power Supply
mAH
ATmega328P with FT232
Microcontroller
USB-to-TTL interface

Figure 4. ROV remote control system Figure 5. Wireless remote control implementation

3.1. Software Development

The software part can be divided into three phases: 1. Design and implementation of ROV’s
software: data input, data processing and data communication, 2. Design and implementation of remote
control system for simulation, data input, data storage, processing and other ROV key instruction control, 3.
Hardware and software communication setting and testing. Figure 6 shows the flowchart that used for the
software of ROV control system.

Figure 6. ROV's software flowchart

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Int J Elec & Comp Eng ISSN: 2088-8708  3329

3. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

3.1. Wireless Remote Control Experiment Result
After implementation, system is tested on L-shaped water tank and its depth is 40 cm as shown in
Figure 7. This test is conducted to evaluate its ability i.e. signal penetration on water. This result is depend on
value of water conductivity is known, it can be used to calculate the values of the signal’s penetration depth.
The penetration depth δ (in centimeter) can be calculated using the following formula [5]:

1
δ= (1)
�πfμσ

Where f is frequency of the electromagnetic wave, μ is absolute magnetic permeability of the conductor, σ is
water conductivity and μ is water‘s magnetic permeability that assumed same as the vacuum magnetic
permeability (μ0 = 4πx10-7 H/m).

Figure 7. Water tank for experiment

The water conductivity is assumed constant. Fresh water conductivity typically varies between from
30 μS/cm-2000 μS/cm [5]. The penetration depth value will be calculated both for the best (30 μS/cm) and
the worst (2000 μS/cm) case. In this case, at the frequency of 420, 433, and 450 MHz from APC220
transceiver module. For example, the value of penetration depth at 433 MHz can be calculated using
Equation 1 with a conductivity value respectively of 30 μS/cm (3 mS/m) and 2000 μS/cm (0.2 S/m). The
results are shown on equation (2) and (3).

1
δ433 MHz = ≈ 44.16 cm (2)
√π∙433∙106 ∙4π∙10−7 ∙3∙10−3

1
δ433 MHz = ≈ 5.4 cm (3)
√π∙433∙106 ∙4π∙10−7 ∙0.2

With same equation, it can be also calculated the signal penetration using various frequency for comparison
as shown in Table 3. From Table 3, it can be concluded that the signal’s penetration depth depends on the
frequency. The higher is the frequency, the lower is the signal’s penetration depth. This result indicates that
wireless communication using UHF 420-450 MHz can be used for controlling ROV on shallow water (< 50
cm).

Table 3. Wireless Signal under Water Penetration using Various Frequency

DEPTH PENETRATION (cm)
Water Type UHF UHF UHF UHF
420 MHz 433 MHz 450 MHz 2,4 GHz
Fresh Water
(Conductivity 44.84 44.16 43.32 18.6
30µS/cm)
Fresh Water
(Conductivity 5.49 5.4 5.4 2.3
2000µS/cm)

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3.2. Control System Experimental Result

This test is intended to evaluate between key presses and the movement of the ROV especially DC
motor for maneuvring and manipulator for collecting cargo as shown in Figure 8. Control system experiment
result (a) forward and reverse (b) down (c) left & right (d) up as shown in Figure 9. The result of the test can
be seen in Table 4. Table 4 shows that keystrokes control the direction that has been made in accordance with
the program so that the movement of the ROV navigation in accordance with the command given.

Figure 8. Control system experiment object Figure 9. Control system experiment result (a)
forward and reverse (b) down (c) left & right (d) up

Table 4. Remote Control Test Result

Input Button Output
No Direction
↑ ↓ → ← M1 M2 M3 M4
1. 1 0 0 0 H H L H Forward
2. 0 1 0 0 L L H H Reverse
3. 0 0 1 0 H L L L Turn Right
4. 0 0 0 1 L H L L Turn Left

3.3. IMU Sensor Experiment

IMU sensor must be calibrated to compensate earth gravity effect. Calibration test is done by
placing the sensor module at a particular position as shown in Figure 10. Based on the plot of the graph in
Figure 10 shows that the accelerometer test result within 2-4 m/s2.

Figure 10. IMU sensor experiment result

The average value for all approached it with the value should be. There is a deviation that varies
with a fairly small range. While the maximum deviation occurring is 0.2 m/s2. The deviation value of the

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accelerometer is on the Y axis on the node 1. The test results on each sensor shows that there is a deviation
value at each sensor node, but the resulting error can still be tolerated for this application.

4. CONCLUSION
This paper successfully presented an alternative method for developing small sized ROV control
without umbilical cable using wireless remote control system. Firstly, it is possible to use RF for under water
applications especially with the use of Ultra High Frequency (UHF) devices operating at 420-450 MHz on
shallow water (< 50 cm depth). Secondly, the system is programmed to take the cargo using modified bilge
pump. Thirdly, the IMU sensor helps the ROV to hold a position within maximum deviation 0.2 m/s2. Future
works on this field should be directed at automated controlling system and camera installation for better
monitoring system.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by Penelitian Dana Internal (PDI) PPM Telkom University.

REFERENCES
[1] R. D. Christ and R. L. Wernli, The ROV Manual - A User Guide for Remotely Operated Vehicles The ROV Manual
A User Guide for Remotely, 2nd ed. Elsevier, 2014.
[2] M. S. Mohd Aras, M. N. Kamarudin, M. H. Bin Che Rusli, and M. I. Mohd Zainal, “Small scale unmanned
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Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV): A case study,” J. Procedia Eng., vol. 41, pp. 554–560, 2012.
[4] R. Wiryadinata, A. S. Nurliany, I. Muttakin, and T. Firmansyah, “Design of a Low Cost Remotely Operated Vehicle
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GHz ISM frequency band,” Sensors, vol. 12, pp. 4237–4264, 2012.
[8] G. Benelli and A. Pozzebon, “RFID Under Water: Technical Issues and Applications,” in Radio Frequency
Identification from System to Applications, M. B. I. Reaz, Ed. InTechOpen, 2013, pp. 379–396.
[9] M. S. M. Aras, S. S. Abdullah, M. Z. A. Rashid, A. A. Rahman, and M. A. A. Aziz, “Development and modeling of
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[10] F. Campagnaro, F. Favaro, P. Casari, and M. Zorzi, “On the feasibility of fully wireless remote control for
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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS

Muhammad Ikhsan Sani is graduated from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) at 2008. His
special fields of interest included embedded system, robotics, and electronic circuit desing. His
employment experience included the Microelectronics Center and LAPI ITB. He joined Telkom
University in 2015 as a lecturer at D3 Computer Engineering program, Faculty of Applied
Science.

Simon Siregar is a lecturer since 2007 at Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of

Applied Science, Telkom University. He graduated from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) at
2009 and his special fields of interest are Internet of Things, Roboctic and Control System.

Muhammad Abid Irwan is Student from Institut Universitas Telkom. His special fields of
interest included Telecommunication engineering, robotics, Design Mechanical 3D and
electronic circuit design. His employment experience included group Research Robotic at
Robotic Schools of Applied Sicence in Telkom University.

Aris Pujud Kurniawan is student of Telkom University. His specialties are robotics,
programming, electronics and embedded system. His work experience included a member of
Robotic Research Group, Faculty of Applied Science, Telkom University. Recently, he has
joined an IT company as a programmer.

Int J Elec & Comp Eng, Vol. 8, No. 5, October 2018 : 3325 - 3332