• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.340-352
• /
• 2022

This article presents a modeling method for the uncorrelated measurement error of the ultra-short baseline (USBL) acoustic positioning system for aiding navigation of underwater vehicles. The Mahalanobis distance (MD) and principal component analysis are applied to decorrelate the errors of USBL measurements, which are correlated in the x- and y-directions and vary according to the relative direction and distance between a reference station and the underwater vehicles. The proposed method can decouple the radial-direction error and angular direction error from each USBL measurement, where the former and latter are independent and dependent, respectively, of the distance between the reference station and the vehicle. With the decorrelation of the USBL errors along the trajectory of the vehicles in every time step, the proposed method can reduce the threshold of the outlier decision level. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, simulation studies were performed with motion data obtained from a field experiment involving an autonomous underwater vehicle and USBL signals generated numerically by matching the specifications of a specific USBL with the data of a global positioning system. The simulations indicated that the navigation system is more robust in rejecting outliers of the USBL measurements than conventional ones. In addition, it was shown that the erroneous estimation of the navigation system after a long USBL blackout can converge to the true states using the MD of the USBL measurements. The navigation systems using the uncorrelated error model of the USBL, therefore, can effectively eliminate USBL outliers without loss of uncontaminated signals.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.44-56
• /
• 2012

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) provide a useful means of collecting detailed oceano-graphic information. The hull resistance of an AUV is an important factor in determining the power requirements and range of the vehicle. This paper describes a procedure using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for determining the hull resistance of an AUV under development, for a given propeller rotation speed and within a given range of AUV velocities. The CFD analysis results reveal the distribution of the hydrodynamic values (velocity, pressure, etc.) around the AUV hull and its ducted propeller. The paper then proceeds to present a methodology for optimizing the AUV profile in order to reduce the total resistance. This paper demonstrates that shape optimization of conceptual designs is possible using the commercial CFD package contained in Ansys$^{TM}$. The optimum design to minimize the drag force of the AUV was identified for a given object function and a set of constrained design parameters.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.71-77
• /
• 2013

The effective tracking area of ultra short baseline (USBL) systems strongly relates to the safety of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This problem has not been studied previously. A method for determining the effective tracking area using acoustic theory is proposed. Ray acoustic equations are used to draw rays which ascertain the effective space. The sonar equation is established in order to discover the available range of the USBL system and the background noise level using sonar characteristics. The available range defines a hemisphere like enclosure. The overlap of the effective space with the hemisphere is the effective area for USBL systems tracking AUVs. Lake and sea trials show the proposed method's validity.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.1-19
• /
• 2014

Hydrodynamic coefficients strongly affect the dynamic performance of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). A novel kind of underwater vehicle (Heavier-than-water AUV) with higher density than water is presented, which is different from conventional ones. RANS method and overlapping grids are used to simulate the flow field around the vehicle. Lifts, drags and moments of different attack and drift angles in steady state are calculated. The hydrodynamic performances and how the forces change with the attitude are analyzed according to the flow field structure. The steady-state results using overlapping grid method are compared with those of software FLUENT and wind tunnel tests. The calculation results show that the overlapping grid method can well simulate the viscous flow field around the underwater vehicle. Overlapping grid skills have also been used to figure out the planar-motion-mechanism (PMM) problem of Heavier-than-water AUV and forecast its hydrodynamic performance, verifying its effectiveness in dealing with the dynamic problems, which would be quite helpful for design and control of Heavier-than-water AUV and other underwater vehicles.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.65-72
• /
• 2013

This paper describes a finite element analysis (FEA) of the body frame of a subsea robot, Crabster200 (CR200). CR200 has six legs for mobility instead of screw type propellers, which distinguishes it from previous underwater robots such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Another distinguishing characteristic is the body frame, which is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). This body frame is designed as a rib cage structure in order to disperse the applied external loads and reduce the weight. The frame should be strong enough to support many devices for exploration and operation underwater. For a reasonable FEA, we carried out specimen tests. Using the obtained material properties, we performed a modal analysis and FEA for CR200 with a ready posture. Finally, this paper presents the FEA results for the CFRP body frame and the compares the characteristics of CFRP with conventional material, aluminum.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.115-123
• /
• 2024

USBL systems are essential for providing accurate positions of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). On the other hand, the accuracy can be degraded by outliers because of the environmental conditions. A failure to address these outliers can significantly impact the reliability of underwater localization and navigation systems. This paper proposes a novel outlier rejection algorithm for AUV localization using Voronoi diagrams and query point calculation. The Voronoi diagram divides data space into Voronoi cells that center on ultra-short baseline (USBL) data, and the calculated query point determines if the corresponding USBL data is an inlier. This study conducted experiments acquiring GPS and USBL data simultaneously and optimized the algorithm empirically based on the acquired data. In addition, the proposed method was applied to a sensor fusion algorithm to verify its effectiveness, resulting in improved pose estimations. The proposed method can be applied to various sensor fusion algorithms as a preprocess and could be used for outlier rejection for other 2D-based location sensors.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.352-360
• /
• 2019

This paper proposes a docking assessment algorithm for an autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with sensor uncertainties. The proposed algorithm consists of two assessments, state assessment and probability assessment. The state assessment verifies the reachability by comparing forward distance to the docking station with expected distance to reach same depth as the docking station and necessity for correcting its route by comparing calculated inaccessible areas based on turning radius of the AUV to position of the docking station. When the AUV and the docking station is close enough and the state assessment is satisfied, the probability assessment is conducted by computing success probability of docking based on the direction angle, relative position to the docking station, and sensor uncertainties of the AUV. The final output of the algorithm is decided by comparing the success probability to threshold whether to try docking or to correct its route. To verify the validation of the suggested algorithm, the scenario that the AUV approaches to the docking station is implemented through Matlab simulation.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.177-184
• /
• 2021

This paper proposes an assessment method using probability-based index for safe and successful underwater docking of autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs) to the docking stations(DSs). The proposed method assesses the probability of docking according to the degree to which the state of the AUV is consistent with the state criteria for docking. The assessment is performed within a specific area considering the kinematic constraints and docking plans of the AUV. The assessment process is defining probability density function, calculating probabilities for reaching the docking station according to the difference to position and heading criteria, and computing the probability-based index in real-time. We verify the validity of the proposed method through analyzing the data acquired on operation test.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.65 no.11
• /
• pp.1868-1878
• /
• 2016

This paper proposes a novel velocity estimator for long-term underwater navigation of autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs). Provided that an external position fix is not given, a viable goal in designing a underwater navigation algorithm is to reduce the divergence rate of position error only using the sporadic velocity information obtained from Doppler velocity log(DVL). For such case, the performance of underwater navigation eventually depends on accuracy and reliability of external velocity information. This motivates us to devise a velocity estimator which can drastically enhance the navigation performance even when the DVL measurement is unavailable. Incorporating the Gertler-Hagen hydrodynamics model of an AUV with the measurement models of velocity and depth sensors, the velocity estimator design problem is resolved using the extended Kalman filter. Different from the existing methods in which an AUV simulator is regarded as a virtual sensor, our approach is less sensitive to the model uncertainty often encountered in practice. This is because our velocity filter estimates the simulator errors with sensor aids and furthermore compensates these errors based on the indirect feedforward manner. Through the simulations for typical AUV navigation scenarios, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.173-178
• /
• 2015

In these days, the world has been increasing the development of various underwater vehicles such as ROVs (Remotely operated underwater vehicles) and AUVs (Autonomous underwater vehicles). And the importance of submarine's maneuverability is especially being emphasized. Therefore, accurate values of the derivatives in equations of motion are required to control motion of the submarines. The aims of the present study are to experimentally derive Hydrodynamic derivatives derived by the vertical planar motion mechanism (VPMM) model test, and to estimate vertical dynamic stability was estimated by using the linear hydrodynamic derivatives, the hydrodynamic derivatives of the submarine, which have a high propriety, were provided by using the fourier analysis of measured forces and moments. Furthermore it is confirmed that the experimental derivatives shows well agreement with the theoretical estimations, and the dynamic stability of the submarine was estimated as a good state, which implies that the value is greater than zero.