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Cooperative bathymetry-based localization using low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles

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Abstract

We present a cooperative bathymetry-based localization approach for a team of low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), each equipped only with a single-beam altimeter, a depth sensor and an acoustic modem. The localization of the individual AUV is achieved via fully decentralized particle filtering, with the local filter’s measurement model driven by the AUV’s altimeter measurements and ranging information obtained through inter-vehicle communication. We perform empirical analysis on the factors that affect the filter performance. Simulation studies using randomly generated trajectories as well as trajectories executed by the AUVs during field experiments successfully demonstrate the feasibility of the technique. The proposed cooperative localization technique has the potential to prolong AUV mission time, and thus open the door for long-term autonomy underwater.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) graduate fellowship. The authors wish to thank the Hovergroup, WAVES lab and STARFISH team for obtaining the experimental data, and Dr. Bharath Kaylan for providing bathymetric maps.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Acoustic Research Laboratory, Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Yew Teck Tan & Mandar Chitre

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Yew Teck Tan & Mandar Chitre

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA

    Franz S. Hover

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  1. Yew Teck Tan
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  2. Mandar Chitre
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Correspondence to Yew Teck Tan.

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Tan, Y.T., Chitre, M. & Hover, F.S. Cooperative bathymetry-based localization using low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles. Auton Robot 40, 1187–1205 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-015-9508-2

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