Real-time scheduling and synchronization for the NPS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Abstract : The work described in this thesis is part of a multi-year research project to develop an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV-II), which is an intelligent robot submarine, carried out by the departments of Mechanical Engineering Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Naval Postgraduate School. The AUV-II on-board computer must perform several different tasks such as navigation, autopilot, guidance, sonar processing, and collision avoidance, etc. under strict timing constraints to guarantee the safety of the vehicle. This thesis describes the design and development of real-time scheduling software, which is capable of scheduling and synchronizing the periodic and aperiodic processes required by the AUV-II. A design recommendation of a Graphical User Interface has been developed to improve the software engineering aspects of this project.