Study on Unmanned Hybrid Unmanned Surface Vehicle and Unmanned Underwater Vehicle System

Abstract

Underwater operating platforms face difficulties regarding power supply and communications. To overcome these difficulties, this study proposes a hybrid surface and underwater vehicle (HSUV) and presents the development of the platform, control algorithms, and results of field tests. The HSUV is capable of supplying reliable power to the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) and obtaining data in real time by using a tether cable between the UUV and the unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The HSUV uses global positioning system (GPS) and ultra-short base line sensors to determine the relative location of the UUV. Way point (WP) and dynamic positioning (DP) algorithms were developed to enable the HSUV to perform unmanned exploration. After reaching the target point using the WP algorithm, the DP algorithm enables USV to maintain position while withstanding environmental disturbances. To ensure the navigation performance at sea, performance tests of GPS, attitude/heading reference system, and side scan sonar were conducted. Based on these results, manual operation, WP, and DP tests were conducted at sea. WP and DP test results and side scan sonar images during the sea trials are presented.