Control system design and thrust analysis of an unmanned surface cleaning vessel with a novel pump-valve propulsion system

This article presents a specialized control system for an unmanned surface cleaning vessel (USCV) employing a pump-valve propulsion system. The system has three operational modes, including manual remote-control mode, self-automated cruise mode, and self-locking remote-control mode. In the manual remote-control mode, users remotely control the vessel by means of a motion-control joystick. In the self-automated cruise mode, the control system is capable of detecting obstacles and automatically controlling the pump-valve propulsion system in response to feedback signals from sensors. The self-locking remote-control mode functions similarly to the first mode, except that the joystick controls the vessel motion in accordance with a single established joystick-actuation pattern. The control system is supported by a commercially available remote controller with wireless communication technology. The functionality of the combined control and pump-valve propulsion system is verified by computational fluid dynamics simulations and experimental tests conducted using a prototype USCV. The combined control and pump-valve propulsion system is demonstrated to be a cost-effective, simple, and innovative platform that is suitable for use with USCVs.