DYNAMIC MODELLING AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS OF A RAY-TYPE HYBRID UNDERWATER GLIDER WITH A DUAL-BUOYANCY ENGINE

Abstract

For ocean observation and exploration, underwater gliders (UG) have shown their efficient long-range operation with buoyancy propulsion. The current Torpedo-shape UGs have small buoyancy capacity and insufficient space for batteries and sensors. In this paper, a Ray-type hybrid underwater glider (RHUG) is developed with new hull design, dual-buoyancy engine, and thrusters. The control system of the RHUG is constructed for gliding motion. To understand the characteristic of the RHUG, dynamic modelling of the dual-buoyancy engine was established. To verify the proposed dynamics model, a navigation experiment using the developed RHUG platform was carried out. Through comparison between experiment and simulation results, the validity of dynamic modelling will be presented. And the experimental results in the sea are also illustrated to evaluate the gliding performance of this new hull design.