Experimental Validations of a Digital Twin Model for Underwater Tracked Vehicle

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental validation of a digital twin model for the Cyber Physics Opertation System(CPOS) ROVER, a tracked underwater robotic platform designed for seabed operations. Based on a high-fidelity multibody dynamics model, the digital twin incorporates trackground interactions and external underwater forces to simulate locomotion under ground-contact conditions. To evaluate the accuracy of the model, a series of water-tank experiments were conducted. The robot performed a round-trip trajectory while its motion was recorded using an external vision-based tracking system. The simulation results were then quantitatively compared with the experimental measurements to assess position and trajectory tracking performance. The comparison demonstrates a high degree of agreement between the digital twin and the experimental data. These findings validate the effectiveness of the proposed digital twin framework for representing tracked underwater locomotion, highlighting its potential for controller development and performance evaluation prior to field deployment.