3D Localization for Multiple AUVs in Anchor-Free Environments by Exploring the Use of Depth Information

Dear Editor,This letter investigates the cooperative localization problem for multiple autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs)in underwater anchor-free environments,where AUV localization errors grow without bound due to the accumulated errors in inertial measurements(termed accumulated errors hereafter)and the lack of anchors(with known positions).

Communication-Aware Formation Control of AUVs With Model Uncertainty and Fading Channel via Integral Reinforcement Learning

Most formation approaches of autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs)focus on the control techniques,ignoring the influence of underwater channel.This paper is concerned with a communication-aware formation issue for AUVs,subject to model uncertainty and fading channel.An integral reinforcement learning(IRL)based estimator is designed to calculate the probabilistic channel parameters,wherein the multivariate probabilistic collocation method with orthogonal fractional factorial design(M-PCM-OFFD)is employed to evaluate the uncertain channel measurements.With the estimated signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),we employ the IRL and M-PCM-OFFD to develop a saturated formation controller for AUVs,dealing with uncertain dynamics and current parameters.For the proposed formation approach,an integrated optimization solution is presented to make a balance between formation stability and communication efficiency.Main innovations lie in three aspects:1)Construct an integrated communication and control optimization framework;2)Design an IRL-based channel prediction estimator;3)Develop an IRL-based formation controller with M-PCM-OFFD.Finally,simulation results show that the formation approach can avoid local optimum estimation,improve the channel efficiency,and relax the dependence of AUV model parameters.

基于扰动观测器的AUVs固定时间编队控制

考虑含有模型参数不确定及未知海洋扰动的多AUVs协同编队问题,本文提出一种新的控制方法,该方法可保证编队在固定时间内实现.首先,将模型参数不确定及海洋扰动看作复合扰动,设计扰动观测器,实现固定时间内对扰动的精确估计.基于扰动观测器,指令滤波技术、固定时间理论及虚拟轨迹概念,设计编队控制律,实现编队目标,并保证闭环系统中的所有信号是全局固定时间稳定的.最后通过两艘AUV的编队仿真验证了所提算法的有效性.

Fixed-time Sliding Mode Formation Control of AUVs Based on a Disturbance Observer

In this paper,we investigate formation tracking control of autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs)with model parameter uncertainties and external disturbances.The external disturbances due to the wind,waves,and ocean currents are combined with the model parameter uncertainties as a compound disturbance.Then a disturbance observer(DO)is introduced to estimate the compound disturbance,which can be achieved within a finite time independent of the initial estimation error.Based on a DO,a novel fixed-time sliding control scheme is developed,by which the follower vehicle can track the leader vehicle with all the states globally stabilized within a given settling time.The effectiveness and performance of the method are demonstrated by numerical simulations.

A Cascade Approach for Global Trajectory Tracking Control of Underactuated AUVs

A global trajectory tracking controller is presented for underactuated AUVs with only surge force and yaw moment in the horizontal plane.A transformation is introduced to represent the tracking error system into a cascade form.The global and uniform asymptotic stabilization problem of the resulting cascade system is reduced to the stabilization problem of two subsystems by use of the cascade approach.For the stabilization of the subsystem involving the yaw moment,a control law is proposed based on the feedback linearization method.Another subsystem is stabilized by designing a fuzzy sliding mode controller which can offer a systematical means of constructing a set of shrinking-span and dilating-span membership functions.In order to demonstrate the practicability of the proposed controller,control constraints,parameter uncertainties,and external disturbances are considered according to practical situation of AUVs.Simulation results show very good tracking performance and robustness of the proposed control schemes.

Market based framework for multiple AUVs cooperation

A“Market” based framework for multiple AUVs team is introduced in this paper.It is a distributed meta-level task allocation framwork. The formulation and the basic concepts of the “Market” such as “goods” and “price” are discussed first, then the basic algorithm of the “auction”. The loosely coupled v-MDTSP tasks are considered as an example of the task allocation mission. A multiple AUV team controller and a detailed algorithm are developed for such applications. The simulation results show that the controller has the advantages such as robustness and low complexity and it can achieve better optimization results than the classical central controller (such as GA) in some tasks. And the comparison of two different local solvers also implies that we should get the reasonable task allocation even not using the high quality algorithm, which can considerably decrease the cooperation computation.

Underwater Localization for Multiple AUVs Based on Bearing and Range Measurements

A novel underwater localization algorithm for autonomous underwater vehicle(AUVs) is proposed. Taking aim at the high cost of the traditional "leader-follower" positioning,a "parallel" model is adopted to describe the localization problem. Under an unknown-but-bounded assumption for sensor noise,bearing and range measurements can be modeled as linear constraints on the configuration space of the AUVs. Merged these constraints,a convex polyhedron representing the set of all configurations consistent with the sensor measurements can be induced. Estimates for the uncertainty in the position of a single AUV or the relative positions of two or more AUVs can then be obtained by projecting this polyhedron into appropriate subspaces of the configuration space. The localization uncertain region for each AUV can be recovered by an approximation algorithm to realize underwater localization for multiple AUVs. The deduced theoretically and the simulated results show that it is an economical and practical localization method for the AUV swarm.

Multi-Scale Fusion Algorithm for AUVs Integrated Navigation Systems

To deal with the low location accuracy issue of existing underwater navigation technologies in autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs),a distributed fusion algorithm which combines the model's analysis method with a multi-scale transformation method is proposed for integrated navigation system based on AUV.First,integrated navigation system theory and system error sources are introduced in details.Secondly,a navigation system's observation equation on the original scale is decomposed into different scales by the discrete wavelet transform method,and noise reduction is performed by setting the wavelet de-noising threshold.At last,the dynamic equation and observation equations are fused on different scales by the wavelet transformation and Kalman filter.The results show that the proposed algorithm has smaller navigation error and higher navigation accuracy.

精彩纷呈2013美国AUVSI展览

2013AuVSJ展览于2015年8月12115日在美国首都华盛顿开幕。46000多平方米的展览场地吸引了来自世界40多个国家的代表，8000多名专业人士参加。无人机及无人系统生产商550多家参展，共同探讨无人机产业的最新发展与成果。

用于AUVS的分析和设计的动态模拟工具

本文讨论了Ｇｅｎｏｖａ大学最新开发的用于先进机器人的模拟器ＡＲＳ的特性，此外还讨论了该模拟器在水下的应用，提供了流体动力学效应的模型。

基于改进人工势场法的AUV全局路径规划

目的为了解决AUV(autonomous underwater vehicle)在传统人工势场法路径规划过程中存在的碰撞、目标不可达和局部极小值等问题,方法提出一种基于改进人工势场法(improved artificial potential field,IAPF)的AUV全局路径规划算法。首先为解决引力过大导致的碰撞问题,引入作用阈限制目标点的吸引力;然后在斥力场添加距离修正因子修正斥力函数,防止目标点离障碍物过近时,由于斥力大于引力引起目标不可达现象,同时考虑到障碍物大小的不等性会影响斥力的作用范围,对障碍物的最小安全距离进行修改;最后在此基础上添加外力,利用外力和势场力的共同作用使AUV沿切线方向行驶,从而摆脱局部极小点或陷阱区域。结果仿真实验结果表明,本文算法能够规划出一条最优路径,与同类算法相比,本文算法运行时间短,成功率高。结论本文提出的基于改进人工势场法的AUV全局路径规划算法,通过引入作用阈、距离修正因子、最小安全距离修正以及外力作用,有效解决了传统人工势场法在AUV路径规划中存在的碰撞、目标不可达和局部极小值等问题。

深海AUV无动力垂直下潜运动特性研究

深海AUV(自主水下机器人)采用无动力下潜方式能有效节约能源,但是水平或小纵倾角姿态下潜用时较长,水平偏移大。为提高下潜速度,减小下潜偏移距离,对AUV无动力垂直下潜过程进行研究。使用四元数代替欧拉角得到AUV运动方程,并加入洋流和浮力数学模型,通过Simulink仿真模块建立AUV垂直下潜运动仿真方法,解决垂直下潜产生的姿态角解算奇异性问题。通过设置不同仿真工况,得到AUV垂直下潜运动状态量受负浮力、重浮心距离、舵角、初始纵倾角及环境扰动力的作用规律。结果表明,AUV采用垂直下潜方式,可实现较大的下潜速度,同时减小水平偏移距离;洋流扰动是垂直下潜运动产生水平偏移的主要原因;下潜深度6000 m时,浮力变化扰动导致末端下潜速度减小30%,下潜时间增加21%。

基于前视声呐图像的AUV目标识别与跟踪

声呐图像由于水体不均匀、边界不规则以及声呐设备本身性能的限制,导致图像噪声明显、亮度不均、分辨率低,使得水下AUV装备在使用前视声呐进行水下目标检测时难度较大。针对该问题,基于m750d声呐探测获得的AUV声呐数据,进行了数据提取、高斯滤波处理、扇形映射处理,并采用Jet映射对声呐灰度图像进行了伪彩色映射提高数据标注速度和精度,制作获得了4组2 500张声呐图像的AUV目标检测数据集;采用YOLOv4-tiny目标检测算法开展AUV目标检测研究,研究结果表明该方法在该数据集上表现优秀,mAP@0.50达到94.17%,FPS在22帧左右,说明该轻量级网络在水下AUV目标识别与跟踪应用上具有较好的应用价值。

基于并联机构的AUV矢量推进器研究

本文提出一种PUS-PRS-S并联机构形式的螺旋桨矢量推进器。对矢量推进器进行具体的结构设计,使其能够很容易地作为一个整体安装在AUV尾部。建立矢量推进器的的运动学和动力学模型,通过数值计算与仿真,结果表明,设计的矢量推进器具有良好的运动性能,能够流畅地完成俯仰、偏摆运动。通过对推力矢量的分析,可知矢量推进器在AUV前进方向上始终能提供不低于75%的推力,在偏转方向上最大能提供50%的推力,且推力大小与AUV姿态和航速均无关。对比与传统的以鳍舵作为控制面的AUV,矢量推进AUV在慢速航行状态下具有更好的操纵性。

基于观测器的自主式水下机器人反步容错控制

为了保证欠驱动自主式水下机器人(autonomous underwater vehiele,AUV)在执行器故障和受到外界干扰的情况下仍然能正常运动,设计了基于观测器的反步容错控制器。首先,有条件地简化AUV的水平面模型,建立简化后的水平面状态方程。之后,针对AUV执行器的垂直舵出现故障并且AUV受到外界干扰的情况,设计观测器以实时估计故障和干扰。然后,将观测器与反步控制器相结合控制AUV,并利用李雅普诺夫稳定性理论证明闭环系统是渐近稳定的。最后,通过仿真验证了所提控制器具有良好的抗干扰能力和容错能力。

波浪影响下水下风筝式AUV建模与力学响应分析

针对强天气条件下相关参数难以获取,提出一种由水面智能拖体、水下高机动AUV和高强度拖缆组成的“水下风筝”式三体AUV,有望实现台风现场海气界面与上层水体同步探测。为探究高海况下“水下风筝”式AUV技术可行性,对其在波浪影响的力学响应特性进行分析,建立基于微振幅波理论和经典多体刚柔结构动力学建模方法的“水下风筝”式AUV动力学模型,采用数值模拟方法获得了不同拖曳速度、不同海况等级下AUV端受力和深度值,结果表明从力学角度当前技术条件可满足“水下风筝”式AUV高海况下同步观测需求。

深海ARV在海洋资源调查中的应用及展望

深海自主/遥控式水下机器人(ARV)作为新兴的复合型水下机器人,融合了自主式水下机器人的灵活性和遥控式水下机器人的人机交互性等优势,开启了自主与遥控混合作业的新模式。深海ARV可切换为AUV自主航行模式,独立采集周边区域近海底地形地貌、地质结构以及环境参数等数据,也能下潜至目标区域后切换为ROV遥控模式进行局部观察和采样操作,其探测作业一体化技术代表了具备复杂使命执行力的第三代深海水下机器人的发展方向。通过分析国内外深海混合型水下机器人的发展现状,结合ARV在中国深海矿产资源调查中的主要应用案例和取得的成果,以6 000米级“问海一号”ARV系统的研发为例,给出其关键技术集成以及面对的技术挑战,并对未来深海ARV的应用场景、功能集成和发展方向提出了一些设想和建议。

基于视锥投影原理的AUV光学导引方法

自主水下航行器在海洋地球科学中有着广泛的应用,并越来越多地被应用在科学研究、商业、军事等领域。作为无人设备,AUV(Autonomous UnderwaterVehicle,自主水下航行器)需要具备自主回收的能力,提高自主回收的准确性和稳定性对延长AUV总作业时具有重要意义。在声光结合导引的自主回收中,AUV航向相对于回收装置中轴线的夹角被称为偏航角,偏航角是一个未知量,对偏航角的测量精度关系到回收的速度和成功率。

基于CFD的具有首翼的新型飞翔形式AUV升力和阻力估计:对阻力极曲线和推力估计的见解

To achieve hydrodynamic design excellence in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles(AUVs)largely depends on the accurate prediction of lift and drag forces.The study presents Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)-based lift and drag estimations of a novel torpedo-shaped flight-style AUV with bow-wings.The horizontal bow-wings are provided to accommodate the electromagnetic arrays used to perform the cable detection and tracking operations near the seabed.The hydrodynamic performance of the AUV due to addition of these horizontal bow-wings is required to be investigated,particularly at the initial design stage.Hence,CFD techniques are employed to compute the lift and drag forces observed by the flight-style AUV,maneuvering underwater at different angles of attack and varying speeds.The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Equations(RANSE)closure is achieved by employing the modified k-ϵ model and Two-Scale Wall Function(2-SWF)approach is used for boundary layer treatment.Further,the study also highlights the unique mesh refinement and solution-adaptive meshing techniques to perform the CFD simulations in Solidworks Flow Simulation(SWFS)environment.The drag polar curve for flight-style AUV with and without bow-wings is generated using the computed lift and drag coefficients.The curve provided essential insights for achieving hydrodynamically efficient and optimized AUV design.From the drag polar curve,it is revealed that due to horizontal bow-wings,the flight-style AUV is capable to generate higher lift with less drag and thus,it gives better lift-to-drag ratio compared to the AUV without bow-wings.Moreover,simulated results of axial drag observed by the AUV have also been compared with free-running experimental results and are found in good agreement.

中型AUV锂离子电池系统设计研究

中型AUV具有续航力强、载荷量大等优势,在长航程科学观测、大载荷搭载等任务领域有较好的应用前景。本文根据某中型AUV的任务需求和指标进行锂离子电池系统设计,基于21700圆柱电芯,对电池成组方案、焊接工艺、电路设计和BMS设计等进行研究,并进行了相关性能测试和分析。试验结果表明,21700圆柱电池在中型AUV锂离子电池系统中具有较好的适用性。