Guidance of an Autonomous Surface Vehicle for Underwater Navigation Aid

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are versatile tools, suitable for many activities in different fields, and have seen an increase in usage, making them an area of interest in the study of robotics. The performance of any underwater vehicle in any given task is deeply affected by the precision of its localization system. The main challenge in underwater localization is the significant attenuation of any Radio Frequency (RF) signal underwater, which prevents the use of many common location methods such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). Many methods have been studied for the localization of UUVs, including the use of acoustic beacons. One of these methods is the use of a single moving beacon to obtain acoustic ranges, as opposed to a stationary single beacon, which restricts the UUV’s trajectory or multiple beacons, involving more hardware, complicating missions’ logistics and increasing costs. In this paper, a guidance algorithm based on the Fisher Information Matrix is proposed for an Autonomous Surface Vehicle to serve as a beacon vehicle and aid in the navigation of a UUV. The approach performances are assessed by means of simulations of the complete system under realistic conditions.