A Heterogeneous Glider System with Underwater Acoustic Communication and Positioning

Abstract Autonomous underwater vehicles are increasingly frequently used in the fields of ocean observation, data collection, and tactical surveillance. Underwater navigation and near real-time communication are the most important factors limiting the performance of these vehicles. In this article, an underwater acoustic communication and positioning system (UACPS) based on heterogeneous gliders is presented. The system consists of an acoustic wave glider and an acoustic underwater glider, and includes an ultrashort baseline and an acoustic modem. The program and communication protocol of the communication and positioning algorithm are independently developed, and the hardware circuit design of the communication and ultra-short baseline positioning, as well as the embedded surface wave gliders and gliders are independently implemented. Sea trial results indicate that the communication distance of the system is more than 3 km and the positioning error is less than 5%. With the further improvement of system performance, the low cost, long time, long distance and near real-time communication characteristics of our UACPS can be used to integrate multiple autonomous unmanned platforms as part of intelligent surveillance robot networks.