In this article, the model of a family of underwater vehicle multi-manipulator systems (UVMMS) is obtained by considering all its elements as parts of a unique system, the model includes the forces produced on the manipulators by the movement of the vehicle, as well as the reaction forces on the vehicle produced by the movement of the manipulators. The modeling process is completed using the Newton–Euler approach through the mobile arborescent kinematic chain. This work also presents different approaches to the use of numerical implementations of the proposed model, and simulation results are included to demonstrate that the model is capable to represent the interaction between the vehicle and the manipulators. The proposed model and simulations are important because they allow the design of control strategies that consider all the elements of the system instead of neglecting the interaction forces or considering the vehicle and the arms as uncoupled elements.

In this article, the development of a bat-ray-inspired underwater vehicle is presented; although the propulsion of the vehicle is based on traditional thrusters, the shape of the ray’s fins was used as a model to design the body of the vehicle; this architecture allows the independent control of the forward velocity and the full attitude of the vehicle using only two thrusters and two articulated fins. The compact design of the robot, along with the high dexterity of the architecture, allows the vehicle to submerge and emerge vertically as well as navigate horizontally. The mathematical model of the proposed vehicle, including dynamics and propulsion system, is presented and validated using numerical simulations. Finally, experimental tests are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed design.