• robot
• robotics
• benthic robot
• autonomous behavior
• robotica marina
• marine robotics
• engineering
• ingegneria
• legged robot

This thesis regards the development of a controlling algorithm for a six-legged benthic robot, called SILVER2, that allows it to autonomously move around the seabed and reach targets.
This work starts with the analysis of a simpler dynamic model, the Underwater Single-Leg Inverted Pendulum (USLIP), which is modeled to be the dynamic equivalent of the robot's six legs. The USLIP model is implemented on Simulink to first test its stability in several different conditions, and then to control the single leg in order to follow a predefined path.
Therefore, SILVER2 is simulated on the platform Webots and the same type of control is implemented. Being a more complex structure, a stability problem arises and another parallel control is developed to resolve it. Once the trajectory can be followed steadily, the robot can be used to reach objects in the environment. A computer vision algorithm is used to recognize them and a new control routine takes place to reach them.