3-Dimensional Hydrothermal Vent Localization Based on Chemical Plume Tracing

Abstract

This paper presents a 3-dimensional (3-D) chemical plume tracing (CPT) algorithm for using on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to find a hydrothermal vent in the underwater environment. In the process of tracing hydrothermal plumes, two types of search modes are defined, namely the horizontal and the vertical search mode. Specifically, in the horizontal search mode, the AUV employs the moth-inspired CPT method to trace plumes on a horizontal plane, and when the vertical search mode is activated, the AUV follows 3-D spiral trajectories to detect plumes in deeper water regions. These two search modes are alternated until the hydrothermal vent is located. In experiments, a 3-D hydrothermal plume simulator, which was created based on the plume data collected from real active vents, is employed as the simulation environment. Results from simulation tests verify that the proposed CPT algorithm is valid for locating a hydrothermal vent in a 3-D underwater environment.