A Robust Calibration Method for the Underwater Transponder Position Based on Gauss-Newton Iteration Algorithm

Abstract

The ultra-short baseline(USBL) is widely used in ships and underwater navigation and positioning. An accurate transponder position is critical for the ultra-short baseline positioning systems. However, in a complex underwater environment, the performance of the traditional calibration method is poor in the presence of outliers. Thus, a robust Gauss-Newton iteration algorithm is proposed for the calibration of the transponder position by the paper. The outliers can be detected by the improved Badar data snooping. The simulation and field experiment verified that the calibration accuracy of the transponder position is higher with the proposed method in the presence of outliers. Because of the more accurate transponder position, the positioning accuracy of the USBL can be further improved compared to the traditional methods.