Control of AUV swarm in the fixed column formation using expert system

The column formation, sometimes called an inline formation, depends on the movement of vehicles one after another. In that case, the first Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), called the swarm leader, moves across the desired trajectory with obstacle detection and avoidance, while the next AUV, called the swarm member, follows the leader. If the swarm includes more than two vehicles, the next AUVs are also called swarm members, whose purpose is to follow each other. In that case, the in-swarm localization of the swarm members seems to be one of the crucial problems that can guarantee the control of the following elements of the inline formation. Due to the assumption that the swarm members are equipped with inaccurate navigation devices, which is mainly associated with the low cost of the navigation devices, the in-swarm relative localization is the only solution to keep AUVs in the desired formation. In that case, the additional advantage of the swarm motion is also received, i.e. the swarm members with the imprecise navigation can keep quite a good accuracy along the desired trajectory following the leader and, consequently, achieve the mission’s final waypoint. The paper includes a description and selected results of the numerical research on AUV swarm control based on the expert system. At the beginning, the AUV motion model used in simulations is presented. Then, the control algorithm along the desired trajectory for the leader and further algorithms used by followers for tracking and following the next AUVs are discussed and visualized. Finally, the conclusions with the plan of future research are inserted.