Deep Submergence Navigation

Abstract

To meet the challenging requirements of new undersea vehicles the Navy has under development a new breed of systems for navigation and control. These represent a significant size and weight reduction over the large navigation systems developed for submarines and incorporates the use of a variety of navigation sensors such as underwater transponders, a doppler sonar, an altitude/depth sonar and a miniature precision inertial platform. These systems form an integrated navigation suit which is adaptable for use as an accurate dead-reckoning system, and for precise sea-floor referenced navigation from acoustic transponders. The development also encompasses a six degree of freedom control system for both manual and automatic positioning of a submersible to an accuracy of a few inches. This will be required for mating with submarines or other underwater work tasks in the presence of ocean currents during rescue, search and recovery missions. Preliminary navigation tests using the ALUMINAUT, equipped for both doppler and transponder navigation, are quite promising.