Modeling and Control of Artificial Swimming Bladder Enabled by IPMC Water Electrolysis

Underwater robots with buoyancy control capability are highly desirable in deep ocean exploration for underwater environment monitoring and intelligent collection. In this paper, a prototype of buoyancy control device powered by ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) is developed. An IPMC is used for enhancing the water electrolysis of tap water and separating the gases produced. The produced hydrogen and oxygen gases are stored in two separate chambers. Collection of these gases increase the volume of water displaced by the device, hence, increases its buoyancy. Two solenoid valves are used to control the release of gases to decrease the device’s buoyancy. Using a dynamic model developed in our previous work, the parameters of the model are identified through an open-loop test. A PID controller is then designed for close-loop depth control. The PID controller uses the error in depth to estimate the desired gas generation/releasing rate. It then calculates the duty cycle of the pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal used for driving the solenoid valves. The closed-loop depth control is verified both through simulation and real-time experiment, showing satisfactory results.