Cooperative Guidance System for AUV Docking with an Active Suspended Docking Station

Abstract

This paper presents an effective guidance system to enable a torpedo-shaped autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to perform cooperative docking with an active suspended docking station. A funnel-shaped docking station equipped with lateral thrusters for automatic adjustment of the heading of the docking station in a planar motion, together with an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), acoustic Doppler Velocity Logger (DVL), and an ultra-short baseline (USBL) transponder is considered. The proposed guidance system is developed using the optimal control theory based Inverse Dynamics in the Virtual Domain (IDVD) method for fast prototyping of near-optimal trajectories and ensuring an implementable guidance system for real-time closed-loop maneuvering. This work is an extension of previous related work by the authors to develop IDVD based docking guidance strategies for AUVs. The cooperative docking process is accomplished by transmitting the AUV’s intended docking trajectory to the docking station ahead of the docking operation, thus enabling the docking station to automatically adjust its heading to ensure alignment with the incoming AUV. The simulation results demonstrate that the performance of the cooperative docking guidance between the AUV and the active docking station increases the possibility of safe, smooth, and efficient arrival of the AUV into the docking station even in presence of cross-current disturbances. This performance is achieved by means of an efficient and tractable guidance system that enables fast prototyping of near-optimal trajectories that will facilitate real-time closed-loop docking maneuvering.