STUDY ON UNDERWATER NAVIGATION FOR AN UNDERWATER TRACK VEHICLE

Abstract

In this study, an underwater navigation algorithm was developed to apply a navigation system to an underwater track vehicle (UTV). Generally, a Doppler velocity log (DVL) is used to obtain the velocity information of underwater vehicles. However, a DVL cannot be used in a UTV owing to vehicle vibration and limited sensing distance. Hence, dead reckoning navigation is typically used, which results in severe errors in altitude and position values over long periods of operation. To address these problems, in this study, we developed a new underwater navigation system for a UTV using navigation sensors comprising an inertial navigation system, an ultra-short baseline, and an encoder sensor on a track wheel. We performed mathematical modeling of the accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. We constructed a navigation system composed of electronic hardware, a control system, an operating system, and a navigation system and then performed a navigation experiment. Finally, we verified the performance of the developed underwater navigation system using real sea area experiments.