Enhanced Depth Control and Stability in Submersible Pylon Inspection Robots Using IMU-Based Extended Kalman Filter and PID Control

Hendi Purnata (Mechatronics Engineering, Cilacap State of Polytechnic)
Riyani Prima Dewi (Electrical Engineering, Cilacap State of Polytechnic)
Saepul Rahmat (Electrical Engineering, Cilacap State of Polytechnic)
Erna Alimudin (Electronics Engineering, Cilacap State of Polytechnic)
Novita Asma Alahi (Electrical Engineering, Cilacap State of Polytechnic)

Jurnal Ecotipe (Electronic, Control, Telecommunication, Information, and Power Engineering)
Vol 11 No 2 (2024): Jurnal Ecotipe, October 2024

The research developed a Submersible Pylon Inspection Robot (SPIR) to clean and inspect underwater structures automatically, facing challenges in stability and depth of operation. Integrating the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), as well as implementing customized PID controls, aims to improve the accuracy and stability of SPIR in dynamic underwater environments. The results show that the SPIR control system can follow the reference depth at shallow depths well, but has difficulty maintaining stability at deeper depths. The position error graph on the Z-axis shows the initial fluctuation that decreases over time, reflecting the increased calibration. The use of drive motors also shows different working patterns, with some motors active in depth settings and others for stabilization. This study shows that the integration approach of IMU, EKF, and PID control can improve SPIR performance, although further adjustments are required to meet the extreme challenges in underwater environments.