Mechanism Development and Position Control of Smart Buoy Robot

There is a gradual increase in the need for energy charging in marine environments because of energy limitations experienced by electric ships and marine robots. Buoys are considered potential energy charging systems, but there are several challenges, which include the need to maintain a fixed position and avoid hazards, dock with ships and robots in order to charge them, be robust to actions by birds, ships, and robots. To solve these problems, this study proposes a smart buoy robot that has multiple thrusters, multiple docking and charging parts, a bird spike, a radar reflector, a light, a camera, and an anchor, and its mechanism is developed. To verify the performance of the smart buoy robot, the position control under disturbance due to wave currents and functional tests such as docking, charging, lighting, and anchoring are performed. Experimental results show that the smart buoy robot can operate under disturbances and is functionally effective. Therefore, the smart buoy robot is suitable as an energy charging system and has potential in realistic applications.