A novel gradient climbing control for seeking the best communication point for data collection from a seabed platform using a single unmanned surface vehicle

A novel controller for finding the best communication point is proposed for collecting data from a seabed platform by a single unmanned surface vehicle (USV) using underwater acoustic communication (UAC). As far as we know, extremum seeking based on climbing control is usually implemented by multiple vehicles or agents because of the large range of measurement and easy acquisition of gradient estimation. A single vehicle cannot rapidly estimate the field because of the limited extent for measurement; therefore, it is difficult for a single vehicle to seek the extremum point in a field. In this study, an oscillation motion (OM) is designed for a single USV to acquire UAC’s link strength data between the seabed platform and the USV. The field for UAC’s link strength is updated using new measurement from an OM of the USV based on a multi-variable weight linear iteration method. A controller for seeking the best UAC’s point of the USV is designed using gradient climbing and artificial potential considering iterative estimation of an unknown field and an OM operation, and the stability is proved. The reliability and efficiency are shown in simulation results.

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