Abstract

This paper presents the design, modeling, and performance analysis of the Marjan-R1, a compact inspection-class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) engineered for superior six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) manoeuvrability. Addressing the limitations of conventional orthogonal layouts, the proposed configuration employs a novel eight-thruster vectored architecture with fixed yaw angles of ±45∘ and pitch angles of ±54.18∘ to maximize control authority isotropy. A comprehensive nonlinear mathematical model is developed and closed-form allocation matrices are derived to evaluate force and torque capabilities. Comparative analysis against the industry-standard BlueROV2 Heavy demonstrates that the Marjan-R1 achieves near-ideal torque isotropy. Furthermore, hydrodynamic simulations confirm the design’s efficiency, demonstrating much reduction in required surge thrust during station-keeping against a 0.3 m/s current, attributed to the vehicle’s recessed, low-drag structural design. These improvements in rotational balance and power consumption validate the Marjan-R1 as a robust platform for agile underwater inspection tasks.

About the Speaker

Mr. MD Tarique bin Hamid earned his B.Eng. in Aerospace Engineering from IIUM (2011) and his M.Sc. from KFUPM (2015). He worked across several technical roles, including at the Technology Advancement and Prototyping Center, DTV, KFUPM (2015–2023). He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Systems and Control Engineering at KFUPM and serves as an instructor in the Control and Instrumentation Engineering Department. His research interests include intelligent system design, robust and adaptive control, optimization algorithms, sensor fusion, hardware-in-the-loop simulation, and nonlinear control systems.