Closed-loop randomized kinodynamic path planning for an autonomous underwater vehicle

A randomized kinodynamic path planning algorithm based on the incremental sampling-based method is proposed here as the state-of-the-art in this field applicable in an autonomous underwater vehicle. Designing a feasible path for this vehicle from an initial position and velocity to a target position and velocity in three-dimensional spaces by considering the kinematic constraints such as obstacles avoidance and dynamic constraints such as hard bounds and non-holonomic characteristic of AUV are the main motivation of this research. For this purpose, a closed-loop rapidly-exploring random tree (CL-RRT) algorithm is presented. This CL-RRT consists of three tightly coupled components: a RRT algorithm, three fuzzy proportional-derivative controllers for heading and diving control and a six degree-of-freedom nonlinear AUV model. The branches of CL-RRT are expanded in the configuration space by considering the kinodynamic constraints of AUV. The feasibility of each branch and random offspring vertex in the CL-RRT is checked against the mentioned constraints of AUV. Next, if the planned branch is feasible by the AUV, then the control signals and related vertex are recorded through the path planner to design the final path. This proposed algorithm is implemented on a single board computer (SBC) through the xPC Target and then four test-cases are designed in 3D space. The results of the processor-in-the-loop tests are compared by the conventional RRT and indicate that the proposed CL-RRT not only in a rapid manner plans an initial path, but also the planned path is feasible by the AUV.     

自治水下机器人在深海采矿系统湖试中的应用

以大洋采矿前期的湖试为例,介绍了AUV在矿产资源调查和深海采矿中的应用。在深海采矿系统作业前期,利用AUV调查湖底的地形地貌、结核的分布与覆盖率,确定集矿机作业地点的大地坐标。在深海采矿系统作业后期,利用AUV调查集矿机在湖底的行走轨迹和压陷深度,估算回采率。     

Application of particle filter combined with extended Kalman filter in model identification of an autonomous underwater vehicle based on experimental data

This study proposes a method for identification of the nonlinear dynamic model of an AUV while some states are unmeasured; hence, it concentrates on a nonlinear “state and parameter estimation” issue. In this method, a local linearization is used for solving the nonlinear dynamics based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF), and a particle filter (PF) is used to minimize errors and variances of the nonlinear system. In other words, the PF is combined with the EKF in the form of the extended Kalman particle filter (EKPF). The EKPF method is independent of the initial values and satisfies the limits of the parameters and also the assumption that the hydrodynamic coefficients are constant. Hence, it is shown when the ranges or signs of some parameters are known, the EKPF is a more accurate estimator than the EKF. Moreover, a new simulation is done using the model estimated by the EKPF and the results are compared and validated with the measured data of a new experimental test. It is shown that the obtained model can predict the trajectory path with the total normalized root-mean-square error (NRMSE) of 14% and the surge mean speed with the NRMSE of 5%; and it describes the 6DOF motion of the AUV more accurate than the EKF model.     

Wave effects on ascending and descending motions of the autonomous underwater vehicle

In the paper, a hydrodynamic model including the characteristics of maneuvering and seakeeping is developed to simulate the six-degree of freedom motions of the underwater vehicle steering near the sea surface. The corresponding wave exciting forces on the underwater vehicle moving in waves are calculated by the strip theory, which is based on the source distribution method. With the hydrodynamic coefficients relevant to the maneuvering and seakeeping, the fourth-order Runge–Kutta numerical method is adopted to solve the equations of motions and six-degrees of freedom of the motions for the underwater vehicle steering near the free surface can be obtained. The wave effect on the corresponding motions of the underwater vehicle is investigated and some interesting phenomena with respect to different wave frequencies and headings are observed. The hydrodynamic numerical model developed here can be served as a valuable tool for analyzing the ascending and descending behaviors of the underwater vehicle near the sea surface.     

Discrete time-delay control of an autonomous underwater vehicle: Theory and experimental results

A discrete time-delay control (DTDC) law for a general six degrees of freedom unsymmetric autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is presented. Hydrodynamic parameters like added mass coefficients and drag coefficients, which are generally uncertain, are not required by the controller. This control law cancels the uncertainties in the AUV dynamics by direct estimation of the uncertainties using time-delay estimation technique. The discrete-time version of the time-delay control does not require the derivative of the system state to be measured or estimated, which is required by the continuous-time version of the controller. This particularly provides an advantage over continuous-time controller in terms of computational effort or availability of sensors for measuring state derivatives, i.e., linear and angular accelerations. Implementation issues for practical realization of the controller are discussed. Experiments on a test-bed AUV were conducted in depth, pitch, and yaw degrees of freedom. Results show that the proposed control law performs well in the presence of uncertainties.     

自治水下机器人机械手系统协调运动研究

简单描述了自治水下机器人搭载的三功能水下电动机械手的设计,鉴于自治水下机器人-机械手系统运动学冗余、内部可能干涉以及载体圆筒式外形等特点,将惩罚调节因子引入系统运动学伪逆矩阵,保证了关节在允许范围内运动,避免载体大幅度姿态变化及载体与机械手之间的干涉,同时采用梯度投影法优化海流作用下的系统推力。仿真表明,该算法在解决系统冗余度的同时,有效地协调多任务下的系统动作。     

In-situ survey of nanomolar manganese in seawater using an autonomous underwater vehicle around a volcanic crater at Teishi Knoll,Sagami Bay,Japan

We present the results of a chemical survey at a submarine volcano, Teishi Knoll, obtained using a submersible in-situ Mn analyzer (GAMOS) mounted on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) platform. During this survey, high-resolution data of dissolved Mn were obtained in three dimensions in nearly real time. The AUV enabled continuous detailed observations along a preprogrammed pathway, which could not have been performed with conventional CTD hydrocasts. During this observation, anomalously high dissolved Mn concentrations were obtained within the crater, corresponding to high water temperatures. The anomalies might be a hydrothermal signature due to volcanic activity from the crater.     

面向ARV的视觉辅助水下对接方法研究

针对水下机器人作业过程中的近距离引导水下对接问题,以自治缆控水下机器人(ARV)为研究对象,为实现快速、高精度的水下对接,设计了基于反射光源识别的单目视觉辅助水下对接方法。通过在对接口布置反光带并将其作为目标图像,设计了图像处理和特征点提取的算法,经过图像特征信息的分析处理,优化算法的时间复杂度,提高了特征点提取的准确率和识别效率。最后设计了传统的引导灯方案与反光带方案的对比试验,验证算法的可行性,证明在水下环境下识别反射光源的方法极大提升了位置估计的准确率,同时在计算速度上也有显著提高,弥补了传统水下对接方法中精度不足或计算量大的缺陷,更好地满足了ARV水下对接的需求,能为潜水器实现水下自主对接提供参考依据。     

基于水下自主航行器（AUV）的神狐峡谷谷底块体搬运沉积特征及其对深水峡谷物质输运过程的指示

海底峡谷是陆源物质向深海运移的重要通道。对于远离陆地的海底峡谷,通常认为浊流是物质搬运的主要营力。受限于探测精度和复杂作业环境影响,使用常规地球物理资料对深水海底峡谷尤其是对谷底沉积体的形态和结构特征的刻画不够精细。基于水下自主航行器（AUV, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle）采集的高分辨率多波束、旁扫声呐和浅地层剖面资料,对神狐峡谷群中的一条峡谷的谷底表面及部分浅部地层的沉积特征进行了分析。结果表明,峡谷谷底浅部地层并不像它平滑的表面那么简单,而是由大量内部杂乱弱反射、厚度在8.4 m及以下的块体搬运沉积体组成。峡谷中下游块体搬运沉积体大都沿峡谷走向整体呈条带状展布,不是直接来源于相邻的峡谷脊部。研究认为在特定沉积环境下（例如高海平面时期）,陆坡限定性峡谷谷底的块体搬运沉积过程的重复进行是峡谷谷底物质输运的重要途径,与浊流共同雕刻了峡谷的地形地貌。基于AUV的地球物理探测技术将是研究海底浅表层沉积过程和保障海底工程施工的重要手段。     

水下滑翔器整体外形设计及水动力性能分析

对水下滑翔器的整体外形设计与水动力性能进行研究。在Slocum等几种典型水下滑翔器样机的基础上,对滑翔器的主体和附体进行一体化设计,得到阻力最小的新型水下滑翔器构型设计。利用CFD方法对水下滑翔器进行模拟仿真,通过分析对比五种主体构型,得到了比较合理的主体线型,然后用正交设计方法和曲线拟合法对附体进行了优选工作,最后得到了性能更优的整体载体外形。模拟仿真实验表明,滑翔器在8°左右攻角航行时,具有最大的升阻比;和Slocum等经典样机相比,新的载体具有更好的水动力性能。通过上述研究工作,也可以缩短水下滑翔器研制周期,降低设计成本,并为水下滑翔器的更优设计提供了有力的技术指导和参考。     

Development of the AUV ‘ISiMI’ and a free running test in an Ocean Engineering Basin

The Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) has developed a small AUV named ISiMI. The mission of ISiMI is to work as a test-bed AUV for the development and validation of various algorithms and instruments required to enhance the AUV's functions. The design concept of ISiMI is that of a vehicle small enough to cruise the Ocean Engineering Basin (OEB) of KORDI and to be handled by one or two people. The downsized design and the cruising ability in its tank enable fast experimental feedback on AUV technologies and a shorter development period for new technologies. This paper presents a review of our research work on the development of ISiMI, with a performance evaluation by simulation and an experimental test. After the design and implementation of ISiMI, including its positioning system in the OEB, are presented, a series of test results in the OEB and discussions of the results are presented, with comparisons of the simulation and experimental outputs.     

Development of A Three-Dimensional Guidance System for Long-Range Maneuvering of A Miniature Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

The present paper introduces a three-dimensional guidance system developed for a miniature Autonomous Underwater Vehicle（AUV）. The guidance system determines the best trajectory for the vehicle based on target behavior and vehicle capabilities. The dynamic model of this novel AUV is derived based on its special characteristics such as the horizontal posture and the independent diving mechanism. To design the guidance strategy, the main idea is to select the desired depth, presumed proportional to the horizontal distance of the AUV and the target. By connecting the two with a straight line, this strategy helps the AUV move in a trajectory sufficiently close to this line. The adjacency of the trajectory to the line leads to reasonably short travelling distances and avoids unsafe areas. Autopilots are designed using sliding mode controller. Two different engagement geometries are considered to evaluate the strategy＇s performance： stationary target and moving target. The simulation results show that the strategy can provide sufficiently fast and smooth trajectories in both target situations.     

Analytical design of an underwater construction robot on the slope with an up-cutting mode operation of a cutter bar

In this paper, the movements of the analytical models of complete underwater tracked vehicle (UTV) and cutter bar (CB) tool systems on a surface as well as their movements up and down a slope in the up-cutting mode operation are fully studied and analyzed. First, the mathematical expression of the mechanics, for which the forces, moments, and energy from the CB to the UTV are analyzed, is related. Next, analyses on the systemic parameters and their sensitivity are conducted to observe the variations of the operational and geometric parameters, as well as the cutter-tool and material-condition effects on the force, moment, and power components. Also, a design process composed of seven typical steps is proposed as the reference of a trencher-machine design. The important design parameters of the trenching machine such as the length of the CB, the nose radius of the CB, and the height of the pivot point are designed according to the proposed design process; furthermore, these parameters are used for the estimation of the slope-angle range when the trencher system is working on the slope. To demonstrate the application of derived equations to practical problems of the machine design, a number of numerical simulations are performed. Through the numerical simulations, the important parameters of the system such as the tangential force, F_t, the tractive thrust, H, the normal reaction, V, the cutting moment, M_c, the maximum carrier weight, W, and the available power are analyzed. From these, as a reference data for the designing of a trencher machine, the previous design of the system can be improved.     

小型水下自航行器自沉浮装置设计与研究

文中对水下自航行器(Autonomous Underwater Vehicle,简称AUV)的自沉浮装置进行了详细设计与研究。通过对已有的自沉浮装置方案进行对比研究,设计了以高压气体吹除压载水舱的新型自沉浮装置,该装置具有结构简单、可靠性高和可维护性好的特点,并可实现模块化设计。最后,对装置的主要设计参数进行了计算与优化。     

AUV总体概念设计中的多学科和多目标优化研究

针对水下自主式航行器(AUV)在总体概念设计阶段的多学科和多目标优化问题进行了研究。基于MDO的概念将AUV的设计要求分解为系统控制层和5个子系统,考虑了有效负载长度和总质量两个目标函数。采用多学科可行解方法(MDF)和多目标遗传算法(MOGA)给出了多学科的Pareto最优解,并且和经典的多目标方法进了比较。     

Stability Analysis on Speed Control System of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

The stability of the motion control system is one of the decisive factors of the control quality for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV).The divergence of control,which the unstable system may be brought about,is fatal to the operation of AUV.The stability analysis of the PD and S-surface speed controllers based on the Lyapunov' s direct method is proposed in this paper.After decoupling the six degree-of-freedom (DOF) motions of the AUV,the axial dynamic behavior is discussed and the condition is deduced,in which the parameters selection within stability domain can guarantee the system asymptotically stable.The experimental results in a tank and on the sea have successfully verified the algorithm reliability,which can be served as a good reference for analyzing other AUV nonlinear control systems.     

Robust control for an autonomous underwater vehicle that suppresses pitch and yaw coupling

Attitude control systems for autonomous underwater vehicles are often implemented with separate controllers for pitch motion in the vertical plane and yaw motion in the horizontal plane. We propose a novel time-varying model for a streamlined autonomous underwater vehicle that explicitly displays the coupling between yaw and pitch motion due to nonzero roll angle and/or roll rate. The model facilitates the use of a multi-input multi-output H_∞ control design that is robust to yaw-pitch coupling. The efficacy of our approach is demonstrated with field trials.     

基于无人机高光谱的外来入侵种互花米草遥感监测方法研究——以黄河三角洲为研究区

互花米草(Spartina alterniflora)入侵性非常强,已被正式纳入我国第一批外来入侵物种名单。互花米草的疯狂蔓延已影响到当地土著物种的生长和空间分布,因此有关管理部门迫切需要互花米草的空间分布和扩散动态数据,但目前还没有一个有效的监测手段。针对这一需求,本文作者提出了基于无人机高光谱的外来入侵种互花米草遥感监测研究方案,拟以黄河三角洲为研究区,利用无人机高光谱遥感新型技术,分析不同情形下(不同生长状况、不同观测条件、不同环境条件等)互花米草的光谱特征,建立鲁棒的互花米草遥感检测模型,研究互花米草无人机高光谱图像高效获取方法,以实现互花米草的高效、准确监测,为亟需的外来入侵种互花米草业务化监测提供有效的技术手段。