Marine robots, particularly Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), have gained considerable attention for their diverse applications in maritime tasks, including search and rescue, environmental monitoring, and maritime security. This paper presents the design and implementation of a USV named marineX. The hardware components of marineX are meticulously developed to ensure robustness, efficiency, and adaptability to varying environmental conditions. Furthermore, the integration of a vision-based object tracking algorithm empowers marineX to autonomously track and monitor specific objects on the water surface. The control system utilizes PID control, enabling precise navigation of marineX while maintaining a desired course and distance to the target object. To assess the performance of marineX, comprehensive testing is conducted, encompassing simulation, trials in the marine pool, and real-world tests in the open sea. The successful outcomes of these tests demonstrate the USV's capabilities in achieving real-time object tracking, showcasing its potential for various applications in maritime operations.
@article{arxiv.2311.17197,
title = {Marine$\mathcal{X}$: Design and Implementation of Unmanned Surface Vessel for Vision Guided Navigation},
author = {Muhayy Ud Din and Ahmed Humais and Waseem Akram and Mohamed Alblooshi and Lyes Saad Saoud and Abdelrahman Alblooshi and Lakmal Seneviratne and Irfan Hussain},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.17197},
year = {2023}
}