Navigation for BlueROV2

Hey, we are currently working on making BlueROV2 autonomous, we want to feed it a trajectory and make it autonomously monitor an area. However, to be able to correct for positioning, we need to make sure our navigation is robust. the WaterLinked acoustic positioning system is out of budget. How can we set up a robust navigation system for no to minimal cost (<$1200).

Thanks!

Hi @moro, welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

I would note that if this was something readily available it would almost certainly come by default on most ROVs. That said, there’s a strong dependence here on your particular operating conditions, and what you consider to be sufficiently robust.

I’d suggest you read this topic to get started with understanding underwater positioning technologies. From there it may be relevant to consider the following:

The systems discussed in those two links are useful to know about but are also all outside your stated budget, so if it’s of interest, the lowest cost options I can think of right now are:

system cost notes
IMU double-integration Free (IMU already in ROV loses significant accuracy within a few meters of motion → generally not feasible)
Standard GPS with antenna can be ~$10 to a few hundred only works at the surface, may be difficult to integrate well
Optical flow/computer vision camera(s) can be ~$50 to several hundred only works with good water quality and distinguishable objects, likely requires significant integration development and some potentially expensive processing hardware
Cerulean DVL-75 from $1999 US max operating height ~40m, max speed 8 knots (~4.1m/s), above your specified budget
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