Study mobile underwater positioning system with expendable and multi-functional bathythermographs

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to introduce a set of mobile underwater positioning systems (MUPS) that will enable non-offshore vessels to execute underwater missions. Besides mobility, the system would also possess the advantage of having to use fewer acoustic instruments than conventional acoustic positioning systems. The method adopted by the system will involve the use of expendable and multi-functional bathythermographs (XBT) to measure the underwater acoustic speed and the depth of water at the same time. Then it must utilize the geometric relations formed by measuring the position of underwater targets at set intervals during navigation. In addition, since sound does not travel in a straight line when underwater, the iteration and convergence method must be used to perform corrections on the transmission speed and positional errors to obtain an accurate coordinate of the underwater target. After simulation testing, the positioning system established by the current study has proven to be fast in converging the error values along with high positioning accuracy of the system. The results of the study indicate that the MUPS built by the research institute can be utilized on a vessel, and will be very helpful in assisting the management of urgent underwater positioning missions.