Cooperative Localization for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
This paper describes an algorithm for distributed acoustic navigation for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). Whereas typical AUV navigation systems utilize pre-calibrated arrays of static transponders, our work seeks to create a fully mobile network of AUVs that perform acoustic ranging and da...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Sage Publications
2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58207 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8863-6550 |
| Summary: | This paper describes an algorithm for distributed acoustic navigation for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
(AUVs). Whereas typical AUV navigation systems utilize pre-calibrated arrays of static transponders, our work
seeks to create a fully mobile network of AUVs that perform acoustic ranging and data exchange with one another to
achieve cooperative positioning for extended duration missions over large areas. The algorithm enumerates possible
solutions for the AUV trajectory based on dead-reckoning and range-only measurements provided by acoustic modems
that are mounted on each vehicle, and chooses the trajectory via minimization of a cost function based on these
constraints. The resulting algorithm is computationally efficient, meets the strict bandwidth requirements of available
AUV modems, and has potential to scale well to networks of large numbers of vehicles. The method has undergone
extensive experimentation, and results from three different scenarios are reported in this paper, each of which utilizes
MIT SCOUT Autonomous Surface Craft (ASC) as convenient platforms for testing. In the first experiment, we utilize
three ASCs, each equipped with a Woods Hole acoustic modem, as surrogates for AUVs. In this scenario, two ASCs
serve as Communication/Navigation Aids (CNAs) for a third ASC that computes its position based exclusively on
GPS positions of the CNAs and acoustic range measurements between platforms. In the second scenario, an undersea
glider is used in conjunction with two ASCs serving as CNAs. Finally, in the third experiment, a Bluefin12 AUV
serves as the target vehicle. All three experiments demonstrate the successful operation of the technique with real
ocean data. |
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