A MECHANICAL HYDRAULIC VIRTUAL PROTOTYPE CO SIMULATION MODEL FOR A SEABED REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE
In this study, a virtual prototype model of a seabed tracked remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is established using the program RecurDyn/Track with the integration of a user defined subroutine for a sediment terramechanics model. Laboratory tests for evaluating the mobility performances of a small tracked vehicle are conducted to validate the computational accuracy of the new virtual prototype model. A simulation model of a load independent flow distribution (LUDV) hydraulic control system for the tracked ROV is built using the program AMESim. Based on the combined RecurDyn AMESim interface program design, a new virtual prototype co simulation model for the mechanical hydraulic system of the tracked ROV is developed. Co simulations are conducted to analyse the dynamic performances of the motor actuators in the LUDV hydraulic system and the tracked ROV mobility performances. The co simulation results demonstrate that the developed virtual prototype model of the ROV mechanical system can accurately simulate the load of the hydraulic control system, while the LUDV hydraulic controlling method can effectively improve the operational performance of a tracked ROV multi actuator system. This research provides an effective and valuable co simulation modelling method for mechanical hydraulic system optimization, performance evaluation and operational control of the seabed tracked ROV. (Received, processed and accepted by the Chinese Representative Office.