Real-Time Flight Simulation of Hydrobatic AUVs Over the Full 0$^{\circ}$–360$^{\circ}$ Envelope

Sriharsha Bhat,Ivan Stenius,Tianlei Miao

doi:10.1109/joe.2021.3076178

Sriharsha Bhat, Ivan Stenius + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/joe.2021.3076178

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Abstract

Hydrobatic AUVsare very agile, and can perform challenging maneuvers that encompass the full 0 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ}$</tex-math></inline-formula> –360 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ}$</tex-math></inline-formula> flight envelope. Such AUVs can be beneficial in novel use cases in ocean production, environmental sensing, and security, by enabling new capabilities for docking, inspection, or under-ice operations. To further explore their capabilities in such scenarios, it is crucial to be able to model their flight dynamics over the full envelope, which includes strong nonlinear effects and turbulence at high angles of attack. With accurate and efficient simulation models, new hydrobatic maneuvers can be generated and control strategies can be developed. Therefore, this article contributes with a strategy to perform efficient and accurate simulations of hydrobatic maneuvers in real time. A multifidelity hydrodynamic database is synthesized by combining analytical, semiempirical, and numerical methods, thereby capturing fluid forces and moments over the full envelope. A component buildup workflow is used to assemble a nonlinear flight dynamics model using lookup tables generated from the database. This simulation model is used to perform real-time simulations of advanced hydrobatic maneuvers. Simulation results show agreement with literature and experiment, and the simulator shows utility as a development tool in designing new maneuvers and control strategies.

Highlights

T HE term hydrobatics stems from aerobatics and refers to the agile maneuvering of underwater vehicles
The reliability of the semiempirical hydrodynamic derivatives is checked by comparing with known data from the literature
A multifidelity database is assembled for the SAM AUV, and the simulation validity is analyzed by pushing the simulations into high angle-of-attack regimes and hydrobatic maneuvers

Summary

Introduction

T HE term hydrobatics stems from aerobatics and refers to the agile maneuvering of underwater vehicles. Underactuated hydrobatic AUVs can be efficient (in terms of range and speed) and agile (in maneuvering), thereby offering potentially disruptive designs for application areas in ocean production, environmental sensing, and security [1]. With accurate and efficient simulation models (see Fig. 1), new hydrobatic maneuvers can be generated and control strategies can be developed. Key requirements for such a simulation model include the following: 1) accuracy in representing flight dynamics and hydrodynamics over the full envelope with qualitatively realistic maneuvering; 2) efficiency in enabling real-time or close to real-time simulations (e.g., for controller design); 3) applicability of a simulator as a development tool with flexibility in changing configurations (e.g., rudder placement, thrusters, and internal trim systems)

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